Cruel Misunderstandings
by TheDreamyOne
Summary: **COMPLETED**Co-Authored by Gypsy. When ghosts from Donovan's past start to turn up dead, the team turns to an outsider for help...with the case and their very lives.
1. Default Chapter

Title: Cruel Misunderstandings

Author:  Dreamscape and Gypsy

Rating:  R  – sexual content, violence, discussion of murder and rape.

Summary:  When ghosts from Donovan's past start to turn up dead, the team turns to an outsider for help...with the case and their very lives.

Disclaimer:  We don't own UC: Undercover or it's characters.  All original characters belong to us.  Don't sue...you'd only get our clones and they only listen to us. ~g~

Authors Note:  You might want to read "A Shock to the System"     and "Another Shock"   for more background on Shay.  And please check out "Frankie and Eric" –a  UC fic by Gypsy    for more background on Francesca Battles

Chapter One

The motel was secluded from the main highway and the gods smiled upon him as he made his way around the buildings.  Most of the streetlights were out and the cloudy night sky blocked the moon and stars adding to the darkness.

First pulling on a pair of latex gloves, he jimmied the lock of an unoccupied room and opened the door quietly before returning to his vehicle.  Scurrying around back, he opened the trunk, lifted the bundle into his arms and carried it inside.  His confidence was high; he would not be caught, could not be deterred from his mission.

He placed the bundle on the bed carefully and returned to close the door to work without disturbance in the darkness.  No need to turn on any lights, his night vision was very good.  

He returned to the bed and unwrapped the bundle.  This one was very beautiful, almost as beautiful as the beauty queen the night before.  He arranged her the way he wanted to see and remember her and then he leaned over to kiss her cold lips.  "Thank you, my love.  I will never forget you."

He closed the door quietly behind him and walked slowly to his car.  Sliding in behind the wheel, he reached over, still wearing the latex gloves, opened the glove compartment and removed the CD he had placed there earlier.  "One more stop," he said aloud, turning the key in the ignition.

Parking the car a few blocks from his destination, he first slid the CD into a manila envelope and scribbled the name "Frank Donovan" on the front before peeling off the strip to seal it.  He walked the remaining blocks until he reached the rundown warehouse that housed the special operations unit.  He slid the envelope through the small mail slit in the door, turned and walked away.

************

A whistle from the room on the ground floor caught his attention.  It was a familiar sound; Cody had discovered something interesting.  He moved to the doorway.

"Find something, Cody?" Alex asked, shuffling the pages of her newspaper.

"Yeah, wait 'til you hear this!" he answered.

"Holy shit!" Alex exclaimed as she read an article that captured her attention.

"What's going on?" Jake asked as he entered from the break room followed by Shay.

"Cody just found something on the 'net, but hang on a sec, Cody...listen to this," she insisted as she read from the newspaper.  "Former Miss Illinois, LeighAnne Carruthers was found dead yesterday in a local motel.  The police refuse to release any details of her death, but will confirm that the former beauty queen was murdered."

"That's horrible," Shay said as she sat next to Alex and glanced at the article.  "What a beautiful woman she was."  

"She was," Alex agreed.  "Such a shame.  Cody, what was it you had to tell us," Alex asked.

"Oddly enough...do you remember Darinda Blake?" he asked.

"Sure," Jake replied.  "Blonde, five foot ten, legs that went on for miles."

Alex laughed.  "Yes, that...and she was a female cop...thirty-sixth precinct, if I remember."

Cody nodded.  "Right.  She was found dead at a local motel _this morning_.  The police aren't releasing any details about her death either, except that it was murder."

Shay felt that familiar tingle at the back of her neck from the times she had worked with the Violent Crimes Task Force in Atlanta.  This had the bells ringing in her mind and her "spider sense" was going off like sirens blaring.  "Cody, can you get me the Coroner's reports on those two murders," she asked, but received no answer.

Shay looked up to see her three teammates staring up at Frank's office.  She followed their gaze and found him standing in his doorway.  He refused to look directly at her; instead, he looked downward and drew back into his office.

Alex shook her head and clucked her tongue.

"What? What's going on?" Shay asked, perplexed.

For a moment, everyone was silent.  Shay understood and sighed.  "It's okay, guys.  I realize Frank had relationships before I came along.  I'm cool with it."

Jake nodded.  "Yeah, Shay.  He dated her for a couple months.  It was never anything serious."

"Jake...it's cool.  You don't have to defend his past to me."  She fingered her wedding band and diamond engagement ring.  "He's my husband, and I love him.  His past is his past.  We all have one."

The gang nodded in agreement.  

"If you'll excuse me...I want to make sure he's okay," she said with a touch of sadness in her voice.

Rapping her knuckles on the doorframe lightly, she entered his office and approached him as he sat in his chair, his face buried in his hands.  She touched his shoulder tenderly and was shocked when he shrugged her off.

"Go back to work, Shay," he ordered gruffly.

"But," she began but was cut off.

He sat up quickly and fixed her with a cold glare.  "I said, go back to work."

"Frank, I know you're hurting, she was a friend."

He stood up and ushered her to the door.  "I don't need counseling, Agent Donovan."

Shay was about to respond when Cody called for her to come back down and look at the coroner's reports and photographs he had accessed.  Shay gave Frank a "this isn't over by a long shot" look and hurried to Cody's computer.

"Can you put the pictures up side-by-side," she asked as she leaned over his shoulder to get a better look.

"No prob," he replied.

She studied the photographs for a moment while Jake and Alex read the reports that Cody had printed out.  "Hmmm," she murmured and pushed Cody out of the way to lean in closer.

"Hey!" he protested.

"Sorry, bucko," Shay said with a laugh.  "Yeah, look...no blood on the bed.  These women weren't killed in these rooms.  They were placed in these rooms for a reason."

"Why is that," Alex asked, checking out the photos.

Shrugging, Shay said, "Possibly just so they would be found quickly.  Does the report say the cause of death?"

Jake tossed her an odd look.  "Shay, hon, they've been stabbed like a million times.  Don't you think that alone would be the cause of death?"

Again she shrugged.  "On the surface, yes.  But look at their necks...see the deep bruises?  These women have been strangled.  Before or after they were abused sexually?" she wondered aloud.

"How'd you know that?" Alex asked, handing Shay the report.  Alex pointed to one of the paragraphs.  "Theory is that they were still alive during the abuse and strangulation was not the cause of death.  It was the multiple stab wounds that killed them."

Shay paced the room deep in thought.  According to the report, the killer left no semen and traces of latex were found showing a condom was used.  She was half tempted to call her old boss, Bryce Davencourt and get him on these murders, but she had to be sure it was truly a case for the VCTF first.  "Cody," she said loudly, turning to face him.  "Do a nationwide search of the police databases and look for victims that were found in this manner."

Cody frowned and shrugged, but started clicking away at his keyboard.  She was getting as good as Frank at ordering him around.

************

12am the digital clock screamed silently at her through the darkness of the room.   She had gone to bed hours ago after putting Little Jake and Ariel Sage down for the night.  Frank had shut himself off in the study and refused to speak to anyone.  Tossing the covers off, she decided enough was enough.

She stopped at Jake's room and looked in on her eighteen-month-old son.  He slept peacefully in his crib, unaware of the mounting tension growing between his parents.   She smiled softly thinking of the day the adoption paperwork was finalized making Frank his legal father.  They had laughed about the boy's name now being Donovan Jacob Donovan when Frank had asked her to marry him in the little hospital in Bucamaranga and decided to legally change his name to Jacob Franklin Donovan.  He was now "Little Jake" and his godfather had become "Uncle Jake".  

She touched a gentle hand to his cheek.  "Sleep tight, my little man," she whispered as she closed the door tightly behind her.  

She padded quietly across the hall to the baby's nursery.  Three-month-old Ariel had turned onto her stomach and lay sucking her thumb while she slept.  Her little mouth worked in earnest as her eyes twitched beneath her closed eyelids.  Her dark hair and slightly olive complexion was so like her daddy's and if her eyes were open, there was no doubt that Frank Donovan lurked within those caramel eyes.

Shay opened the door to the study slowly, he sat in the leather executive chair with his back to the door and his feet propped up on the windowsill.   Moving closer in the dimly lit room, she saw the bottle of Jack Daniels on the corner of the desk; a brand new bottle with a quarter of the liquid missing.  

He heard her approaching and dropped his feet from the sill and turned the chair abruptly eliciting a startled gasp from her.  "Go to bed, Shay," he ordered harshly.

"Franklin Donovan, you're drunk," she accused.

"And, what of it?  Now, go to bed," he growled.  He was not in the mood to talk; he only wanted to be left alone.

She took the crystal tumbler he held loosely within his long fingers and set it on the desk before lowering herself to his lap and curled up in the chair with him.  "Tiger, whatever it is, you know you can talk to me."  

He felt the comfort of her body as she molded against him and laid her head on his shoulder.  Wrapping his arms around her, he held her close.   He wanted to tell her the truth but something urged him to hold it back from her.   He pressed a kiss to the top of her head, but did not speak.  

Shay sighed heavily but did not prod.  Frank Donovan was not a man to push and prod.  Sooner or later he would let her in; he always did.  She would content herself with that knowledge for now and be there when the damn broke.   

************


	2. A Third...

Chapter Two – Cruel Misunderstanding

See Chapter One for Disclaimers

************

Upon entering the nest the next morning, Frank and Shay were greeted by a downcast crew.  "Why the long faces?" Shay asked.

"Received word from the thirty-sixth precinct," Cody replied, tapping his monitor.  "Darinda's funeral is the day after tomorrow."

Shay felt Frank stiffen beside her.  She didn't miss the fact that he put some distance between them either.  

Alex stood up from the table as she slammed her fist down.  "Damn-it-to-hell!  I want to catch this creep.  I'm canceling my vacation."  

Frank shook his head and crossed the short distance between them.  "You need this vacation, Alex.  You've been dreaming of taking this trip to Scotland, and you damned well better believe you are going to be on that plane the day after tomorrow."

Jake nodded.  "Alex, we'll pay your respects to Darinda's family."

Her shoulders sagged as she reluctantly gave in to her teammate's argument.  "Fine, but I know I'll have a lousy time."

Frank gave her a small shake.  "I order you to have a good time."  

Alex couldn't help but laugh and that brought a small smile to Frank's lips.  Shay hadn't seen him smile in days.  She was startled when Cody handed her a file and slapped her arm with it because she did not pay attention to him.  "What?"

"Here's the result of the nationwide search you wanted," he replied.

Frank frowned.  "What search?  What are you talking about?"

"Shay asked me to run a search for similar matches to the two women who were found dead in motel rooms in Chicago," he explained.  He had no idea why Frank was looking so hostile; he often did things for the other team members without having to ask permission.

"Shay, it's not our problem.  Drop it," he ordered, giving her a gruff look.

She nodded absently as she read the report and walked away from the group.  Another woman, stabbed to death after being raped and strangled with force to the point of unconsciousness.  "Nessa Skinner."

Jake watched Frank turned with such abruptness he thought his boss had given himself whiplash.

"Nessa Skinner?" Donovan asked anxiously.

Shay nodded, her head still buried in the file.  "She was murdered two weeks ago in Valparaiso, Florida."  She looked up to see him gripping the stairway railing tightly, his knuckles white.  "Frank?"

He said nothing as he turned and climbed the stairs to his office.  Alone, without the curious eyes of his wife and team, he inserted the CD that had arrived the same day the team had learned about the death of the Darinda and LeighAnne Carruthers.  It contained a photographic slide show of the two murders in graphic detail; in the background the words "All because of you" repeated over and over.  He recognized the voice...it was Darinda's.

Darinda...something just never clicked between them; perhaps it was just the time constraint.  It was something she complained about; they never had time for each other.  Things were good, comfortable between them, but no fire, no intensity.  

He shook his head, knowing he was somehow to blame for her murder.   He could not get past the fact that these two vibrant women were dead because of him.  He sat hours on end trying to find the reason and came up empty.  

************

The morning of the funeral arrived.  Cody was with Alex, making sure she got on the airplane.  She was still threatening to call off her vacation, especially after Cody had discovered the first murder.

Frank descended the stairs from his office and met Jake and Shay down below.  The men were dressed in black suits, while Shay wore a black suit dress.  They quietly made their way toward the door when the main line in the nest rang.  Frank reached over the nearest desk and pushed the speaker button.  "Donovan."

"Good.  Frank, glad I caught you." 

"Hello, Deirdre.  Look, we're on our way to Officer Blake's funeral.  I'll contact you when we get back."

"I understand, but this will only take a minute.  I've scheduled a meeting for you and your team at 4pm this afternoon with the head of the VCTF.  See you then."

The click of the line let them all know there was no discussion of the wherefores and whys; be there at 4pm or else, was the message she was delivering.  Frank shot his wife a knowing look.  She was behind this meeting, but now was not the time to discuss his frustration at her going behind his back.

"Let's go," he ordered gruffly.

************


	3. Meet Frankie

************

  
The funeral procession was understated, not the usual pomp and circumstance a police funeral merited. Had Lieutenant Blake been killed in the line of duty, she'd have had a full burial with honors. However, her parents had requested a simpler honor service near their family plot. Her mother and father sat graveside, her mother crying softly.

Francesca Battles stood in the back, suited in black and a pair of sleek black shades on to hide her own tears. Darinda was a friend of hers; they'd worked together on a few cases in the past. As the priest led the prayer, she had to look around at the people gathered. It wasn't disrespect that made Frankie's eyes wander. She simply could not pray for anything except justice for the bastard who did this to Darinda.

When the Twenty-One Gun salute fired the first volley, Frankie jumped. Flashbacks to Eric's funeral overtook her and the tears came again. Darinda's partner put his hand on hers to calm her as the Captain of the Honor Guard handed the folded flag to Mrs. Blake

Frank, Shay and Jake stood towards the rear of the gathering. When the rifles fired the first volley, Frank jerked slightly. But it was Jake's elbow in Frank's ribs that caught his attention.

"What?" he whispered.

"Hey, look over there, behind the parents a row or two. Isn't that Frankie?" Jake whispered back.

Frank looked over carefully. He hadn't seen Frankie since she'd hooked him up with Darinda on a blind date.

"What is it Frank?" Shay whispered.

"An old friend, Shay."

After the service was over and the mourners filed away from the graveside, Jake left Frank and Shay to catch up with Frankie.

"Hey, Firecracker..." he said softly as he reached out for her shoulder.

Frankie stopped and turned around. "Jake..." she smiled and stepped into Jake's arms for a hug.

"How are you doing Frankie?"

"I'm alright Jake. What happened to Darinda..." her words caught in her throat and she looked down. "I've seen too many deaths and funerals lately Jake."

Jake wrapped his arms around Frankie and hugged her tight. She put her arms around him and just let him hold her. The fact that she had to lean down to rest her cheek on his shoulder didn't bother either of them.

"Francesca."

Frankie shivered and straightened up. "I love it when you call me Francesca. Hello darlin'." She slid from Jake's embrace into Frank's. They fit together easily, her arms sliding under his and around his ribcage to hug him tight. 

"How are you?"

"I'm alive. Thinking whoever did this to Dari needs to be hung by his nuts over a bed of Texas fireants."

Jake and Frank winced. That's Frankie for you...

A slight cough behind Frank brought their attention to Shay.

"Ah, Francesca, I'd like you to meet Shay, my wife."

Frankie smiled momentarily before her smile faltered. Wife? When did she miss Frank getting married? "Pleasure to meet you... what was your name again?"

"Shay. Shay Donovan."

"Ah. Yes." Frankie turned back to Frank. "I promised Dari's mother I'd help with the wake at her parent's house." She stretched up and kissed Frank's cheek, then kissed Jake's cheek and left without a word to Shay.

  
************

Shay watched from the sidelines as the three old friends reacquainted themselves.  Francesca...Frankie...had made her feelings for Frank Donovan's wife fairly plain at the funeral.  Ms. Francesca Battles was apparently a very territorial woman.  Shay smiled sweetly at the man who chattered away at her, although her attention was focused on the woman who smiled silkily at her husband and could not seem to keep her hands off of him.  

She occupied her time by chatting with the family and friends of Officer Blake.  Mrs. Blake held up well most of the day, but Shay happened upon her alone in the kitchen washing glasses.  "Mrs. Blake, here...let me help you with that."

"Nonsense, dear, I'm fine," she smiled as she looked up at the woman standing beside her.  "You're Frank Donovan's wife, aren't you?"

"Yes, ma'am," She answered, grabbing a dishtowel and started drying the clean glasses. 

"He's a good man," she commented.  A cry escaped her as she dropped a glass into the sink and it shattered.  Her shoulders slumped over the sink and sobs wracked her body.  "I'm sorry," she said through her tears.

"Shhhh," Shay said as she wrapped her arms around the woman in a comforting embrace.  

"Shay?" 

She looked up to see the trio of friends and she shooed them away, but Frankie remained in the kitchen.  "Let's get you upstairs, hmmm?"  Mrs. Blake nodded against her shoulder and pulled away.  "Is there a back way?"  

"Yes, dear.  Thank you.  You go on back to your husband, I'll be fine," she insisted.

Shay nodded and placed a gentle hand on the woman's arm.  "Take care of yourself, Mrs. Blake."

"Thank you, Mrs. Donovan."  

Frankie smiled and wrapped her arms around 'Mum' in a tight hug before kissing her cheek. Once Mrs. Blake had left the room, she turned back to see Shay leaving the kitchen. 

Shay left the kitchen with Frankie directly behind her to find the Frank and Jake waiting outside the door.  She ignored the coolness in Frankie's eyes and looked down at her watch.  "Frank, it's nearly three...we have that meeting at four."

He nodded in agreement, although clearly irritated.  "You've gotten us involved, haven't you?"

Frankie blinked.  Involved?

Shay sighed.  This was getting old.  "Yes.  You won't discuss it and I needed to talk to someone, so I called Bryce.  He wants us in on this case."

His expression was stern.  "So, you go behind my back?" he growled lowly.

"Frank, take it easy," Jake interjected.

"What, your wife works with you?" Frankie balked at the realization.  Married to a co-worker.  

"You got a problem with that?" Shay asked, irritated.  Not only was her husband ignoring her, he was reprimanding her in front of a stranger.  Well, a stranger to her, anyway.  

"Knock it off, Shay," Frank barked.  

"Frank... easy there big guy..." Frankie laid a hand on his forearm. Leaning in close she whispered in his ear. "This isn't the time or the place for an argument."

Jake watched the scene with growing frustration.  Shay was his best friend and he was not enjoying the show Donovan was putting on the past few days.  More than once he had watched Frank talk to his wife out of character and now in front of Frankie.  He did not know what problems had surfaced within their marriage, but maybe if they concentrated on work, the animosity would fade.

"Frank, if we are about to take on this case, we might need some help," Jake stated, nodding toward Frankie.

Distracted, Frank followed Jake's train of thought and nodded his agreement.  "Francesca, care to sit in on this meeting?"

"I think I would. I'm getting the feeling it's got something to do with Dari - and if that's so, wild horses couldn't keep me off of it."

************


	4. Frankie meets the young'uns

When they reached the nest, it was nearly 4pm.  Cody's Jeep was in the parking lot along with a black Lincoln Town Car.  "Dierdre's here," Frank commented as they walked by the vehicle.

When the four entered the room Dierdre Burkholtz, Director of the Special Operations Unit greeted them.  "So nice of you to join us."

A laugh from behind her drew Shay's attention.  "Bryce?"  

Stepping around Dierdre he hurried to Shay and grabbed her up in a crushing embrace.  "Hey, kiddo!  It's been way too long."

Shay pulled back within his embrace to look him over.  "Sweet Jesus!  Look at all that gray you've developed."  She laughed as he ran a hand through his brown hair, now littered with gray.  

"Yeah...it was from breaking in the new profiler.  I begged you not to leave me."

Profiler? Frankie leaned over to whisper into Jake's ear "Where's Monica and Alex?"

"Monica's married and gone, Frankie.  Shay's our profiler.  Alex is over the Atlantic on her way to Scotland. That's why I suggested we ask you to help with this." 

Shay slapped Bryce softly.  "Liar."

Dierdre cleared her throat.  "If we could get this meeting underway?  I have an elsewhere to be," she stated impatiently.

Shay turned to look into the darkly intense eyes of her boss and husband.  He looked none too pleased with the affection between his wife and her former boss.  "Frank, this is Bryce Davencourt...the head of the VCTF.  Bryce, Frank Donovan."

Bryce extended a hand.  "Nice to meet you," he said, shaking Donovan's hand.  "Congratulations...not only on the marriage, but the children.  I hope I get to see them while I'm in town."

Frank shrugged.  "You'll see them soon enough, I'm sure.  Can we get on with this?"

Bryce nodded.  "We've put at your disposal the resources of the VCTF; however, we are currently working a serial arsonist case and cannot spare our team to do the legwork and profiling."

"That's where your team comes in, Frank," Dierdre interjected.

"In what context?" he asked.  He was not looking forward to working for Shay's ex-boss.

"You have my best profiler," Bryce said, smiling at Shay, "and one of the best teams on record.  You handle this case using the resources of the VCTF.  It's that simple." 

"And who is this?" Dierdre asked, motioning to Frankie.

"Francesca Battles, I asked her to sit in on this. Darinda was a friend of hers."

At the mention of the name Francesca Battles, Dierdre's eyebrows raised slightly and she looked at Frank as if to ask 'THAT Francesca Battles'? She remembered Frank recommending a Francesca Battles for the FBI Academy a few years ago.

Frank nodded his head almost imperceptibly to say yes.

"Well, then, Ms. Battles. Welcome to the team." 

************

Dierdre had left shortly after the meeting had started.  Bryce was working with Cody setting up all the necessary password protocols within the VCTF's mainframe for their access.  Frank was going over the files with Frankie, bringing her up-to-date on what information they had while Jake had pulled Shay into the break room to talk to her quietly.

"Hon, what's going on with you and Frank? He really hasn't been acting like...well...Frank."

Her spine stiffened in response to the question.  "That noticeable, huh?"

"To me, the others, I don't know.  What's going on?" he asked again.

"I wish I could tell you, Jake.  The long and short of it is, something's bothering Frank but he's shut me out."  She bit her lip trying to hold back the tears that welled in the corner of her eyes.  "He's changing, Jake...I think I'm losing him."

Jake's anger grew the longer she tried to hold back her heartache.  He had sworn once to Frank that if he ever hurt her he would kill him, and seeing her now...body and lower lip trembling as she fought to hold back the tears, the thought of decking his boss appealed to him greatly.  

Instead, he reached out and pulled Shay into his embrace, comforting her as she rested her head on his shoulder and wept silently.  He whispered quietly, "There has to be a way to reach him and you'll find it.  You'll never lose him, Shay; he is so in love with you it's untouchable."  He paused momentarily as her tears subsided, "But promise me, as your friend and the godfather of your children, you will not let him hurt you.  You tell me...tell me, Shay...because it will be the last thing he ever does."

Out in the main room, Frank and Frankie were looking through the files.  "Jesus darlin'. This... defies description."

Frank didn't say a word to Frankie.

"That's what I love about you. Strong, Silent, Excellent Kisser, and you look good half-naked. So," Frankie dropped the file and turned to look into the break room to where Jake and Shay were consoling one another. "What's with the chick? I seemingly missed my invite to the wedding. I mean, we've had our share of discussions and all, but you'd think somehow I'd at least merit an announcement."

"Francesca..."

"Yeah darlin'?"

"Cool it."

"What's eating at you darlin'? You're snapping at your wife, barking at Jake and Cody... Cody, that's nothing new from what Jake tells me... and you look like you are carrying the weight of the world on your shoulders."

Frank had been about to say something when his father-in-law came in with a stroller and a little boy.

Shay pulled away from Jake, about to admonish him for saying such a thing when they heard Thomas Renquist yell his greetings as he entered the nest.  They hurried into the outer room to see Little Jake run unsteadily to his father.

"Daddddy," LJ called, holding his arms outstretched for his father to pick him up.  

Frankie backed up a bit. Kids? She'd heard the one named Bryce say something about kids earlier, but it didn't register until now. Looking closely at the boy she could tell easily that wasn't Frank's.

"Hey, there, Little Man," Frank responded, laughing as he swung LJ up into his arms.  "Where's your sister?"

LJ giggled and pointed to his grandfather.  "Aiwy wight dare," he stated.

Frankie chuckled.  The boy was definitely cute, even if his mother was Shay Donovan.  "Aiwy?"

Frank chuckled.  "Ariel.  Little Jake has a bit of a problem with that name."  

"Do not," LJ insisted with a frown.  When he saw Mommy and Uncle Jake across the room he squirmed to get down.  Once on the floor, he took off at a dead run toward them.  "Mommy!  Uncew Jayyyyke!"  He launched himself forward and was caught in the firm grasp of his uncle.

Shay ruffled his hair and smiled at Jake.  "Thanks," she said, knowing he would realize it wasn't meant just for catching her acrobatic son.  "Hey, Dad," she called, walking across the room toward her father.  She bent over the stroller and scooped up Ariel who gurgled happily within her mother's arms.  

"Hello, Thomas!"  Bryce called from his position at Cody's workstation.

"Bryce!  It's so wonderful to see you!"  He left his daughter to speak with her ex-boss.

Shay breathed in the refreshing "baby scent" of her daughter.  She would never get over how wonderful babies smelled; of course, that did not include baby messes.  

Shay both heard and felt the approach of Frankie and icy sky-blue eyes met frigid steel gray as Frankie walked past her into the break room.

Frank went to his wife's side and leaned down to kiss the top of his daughter's head.  Looking up, he could see that Shay had been crying.  He placed a gentle hand to her cheek and shook his head softly.  He just could not bring himself to share his tormented thoughts.

Shay managed a slight smile before taking Ariel over to meet Bryce and called to Jake to bring LJ over to see him also.  

"Sorry about arriving unannounced, but your son insisted that he would not go to bed without seeing Mommy and Daddy...and Uncew Jake, too." Thomas chuckled as he spoke to Frank.

Frank nodded and remained patient during the short visit. 

************


	5. An Offer for Shay

"Nice system," Cody commented as her perused the mainframe.  "Here we go, Shay.  Here's the forensics you've been wanting to see."

She moved over to Cody's station and sat beside him.  "Finally...now we can see just how the women were found...if Forensics did their jobs properly."  Shay pointed to a few of the photos.  "Pull these up for me, these three here...side by side."

"Okay, okay."  Damn...just like Frank.

She shook her head...something was there; she just wasn't seeing it.  "Print them all...photo quality.  All the files, too."

"Yes, your highness," he quipped and received a slap to the back of the head for his troubles.

She paced behind Cody cursing the slowness of his printer.  

"Yelling at my equipment won't make it go faster," he snapped.  "Go play with something."

"Oh, shut up," she snapped back and turned to resume her pacing and collided into something solid.  "Hello, Tiger," she whispered, winking.

"Find anything," he asked, ignoring the fact she called him her pet name while at work.  If he barked at her one more time, she was liable to come unglued and beat the stuffing out of him, not that he didn't deserve it.

Shaking her head, she replied, "Still waiting for the files and photographs to print."

Frankie had made herself into a ghost after Mr. Renquist and the children had left.  Slipping into her PD-mode to watch and listen was too easy; she'd been doing it far too long.  A living ghost is what some of the Boyz in Blue had labeled her.  She stayed close enough to hear what was said and to see the photos as they came off.  Working in and with a team was something new to her.  Usually she was it...

"Yeah, and driving me crazy," Cody commented.  This time it was Frank who slapped him upside the head.  "Hey!  Knock it off, you two.  And why can't you look at them as they print off?  Why do you have to see them all at the same time?"

"Ah...so, it just wasn't my team she was stubborn and demanding with," Bryce commented as he entered the room.

"It just works that way, Cody," she tried to explain as she wrinkled her nose at Bryce.  "It helps me to get a better feel of things, how it happened, why...try to get inside the mind of the killer."

Cody shuddered watching the last of the photos print off.  "That's not a place I'd want to get into."

Frank shook his head.  "I'd rather she didn't either."  He placed a hand on her shoulder and looked into her blue eyes.  "Don't get lost in there," he whispered.

She nodded.  When he whispered like that and looked so intently into her eyes, she wanted to throw herself into his arms, kiss him until they were breathless, and make love to him until their brains turned to liquid mush.  Instead, she took the pile of photos and moved over to the conference table and spread them out.

Pacing along the table slowly, she looked over each picture carefully.  Noting the way the three women were posed on the bed.  Arms folded over their chests, as if to protect their modesty.  Legs outstretched, but ankles folded over top each other, hiding their femininity from view.  Why go to the trouble of raping, strangling and stabbing only to protect their modesty?  

At the 'goo-goo' eyes passing between Shay to Frank, Frankie wanted to puke.  What did he see in her?  Slowly she got to her feet and walked over, positioning herself on the other side of the table from Shay.  She didn't pace, instead she braced her hands on the edge of the table and looked at each one individually.

Shay pressed her fingers to her temples and turned her back to the photographs and Frankie, who was studying the photos from the opposite side of the table, and closed her eyes.  She was missing something...something that was right in front of her.  She growled in frustration.

"Oh, that's not a good sound," Bryce commented from behind her.  

Shay turned and found herself face to face with her ex-boss.  She laughed.  "Yeah, a sound you heard way too many times."

"I've missed you, Kiddo," he admitted.

"Bryce...don't." 

He reached out and took her arm.  "If you...want to come back...I told you before..."

"Bryce..."

Quietly Frankie picked up the photos and slipped off to a corner of the room to look them over. Every now and then she looked up to watch Shay and Bryce. There was more there than Boss and Employee... Not that it was her business really. With a soft snort and a shake of her head in disapproval, Frankie slid through the photographs over and over...

"You're not happy, Shay.  I can see that.  Come back to Atlanta with me," he said softly, moving closer.

"I can't thank you enough for your help and your friendship, but that is the extent of it.  Frank and the kids are my life, nothing can change that," she assured him.

He nodded.  "I would have hated myself if I didn't try, Kiddo."  He leaned in and kissed her cheek.  "Say my goodbye's for me.  I have a plane to catch."  

She watched as he left the room and heard the outside door close firmly.  

"There's still time to change your mind."

She turned quickly to see Frank standing outside his office door.  "Why would I want to do that?"  She climbed the stairs quickly to stand before him.  "Or, is it that you want me to go?"

"Do what you want, Shay.  You always do," he commented and turned away to return to his office.  

"Do what I want..."  She grabbed his upper arm and tugged firmly, turning him to face her.  "I want..."  She stepped closer and wrapped her arms around his waist.  "You."

A low growl escaped him as he pulled her into his office and closed the door.   Once inside, he backed her up against it and pressed himself fully against her body.  His mouth captured hers hungrily and their moans of pleasure and desire mixed and mingled in the quiet of his office.  

"Tiger..." Shay moaned. 

He murmured something as his lips and tongue explored her throat.  

"Hmmm...wha...what?" she stammered as her body shuddered with excitement.

He lifted his head and gazed into her eyes, his hunger for her visible in his features.  "I need you, Shay."

"Let's go home, Tiger...it's already late.  Dad's probably already put the kids to bed..."  

Frank nodded, grabbed the keys from the desk and took Shay by the hand.  He tossed open the door and they ran down the stairs, passing Cody along the way to the door.  "Call it a night, people!" he yelled as they raced to the door.

"Well...okay, then," he said laughing.  "Have fun, kids!"

************


	6. Frankie's Discovery and Frank's Torment

Frankie walked over to the table and spread the photographs out again. She'd long ago lost her shoes in favor of walking bare-foot on the floor and her suit jacket. She stood in a pair of black slacks and a white tank top, the one gun holstered in the small of her back.

As Jake left for the night, she'd asked him to bring her a change of clothing and shoes when he returned in the morning.  All along she'd had the intention of staying and pulling an all-nighter; for some odd reason she thought better and processed information better on sleep deprivation.

"Cody..."

"Yeah Frankie?"

"Where were the other two murders found?"

"LeighAnne was here in Chicago as well. Nessa was in Valparaiso, Florida."

"Nothing in the women's backgrounds themselves?"

"A Beauty Queen and Nurse. No priors on either one."

"Nothing in common with a cop."

Frankie's eyebrow lifted slightly as she turned back to the photos.   "How did Frank react to the news of the murder of Nessa Skinner?" Her voice was quiet as she leaned over the photos again.

"Shock. He knew the name, definitely."

"Hmm."

"Frankie..."

"Yeah Cody?"

"What's on that mind of yours?"

Frankie stood up and gathered up the photos.  "Frank.  So far he is the only link...IF he knew Nessa Skinner...or dated her, I should say."  She walked over to the wall and picked up three map tacks. One by one, she put them up on the wall side by side in chronological order. "Nessa Skinner, Valparaiso Florida." and she tacked it up. "LeighAnne Carruthers, Chicago Illinois... Darinda... Bl-" she stopped in mid stab with a soft choked sob. After a second, she cleared her throat and shook her hair back. "Darinda Blake, Chicago Illinois."

Cody stood up and came over next to her. "All three found in a motel room that was not the murder site. All three posed the same modest fashion. Do you see anything Shay didn't?"

"Yeah."

"What?"

"Whoever did this loved his victims."

"Get out!" He peered at the photographs. "What else?"

"A trip to Valparaiso Florida. Get some sleep Cody. I'm going to be here a while reading the reports on the scenes of discovery."

************

His eyes glazed over and she knew he wasn't seeing her any longer.  He was no longer with her mentally.  She cried out when he grasped her wrists with an intensity she had never known from him and trapped them above her head.  She felt more like his prisoner than his partner.  The more she struggled against his grip, the more secure his hold became.  She sobbed his name, hoping to get his attention and draw him back to reality, but he seemed not to hear.

His thrusts had become animalistic.  No longer did she feel the passion within him, only the pain he wished to inflict.  She was crying now, sobbing uncontrollably with each punishing thrust.  She longed to scream but could only keep silent.  If she screamed, the children who slept peacefully down the hall would be woken.  She would take his punishment, if only for the children's sakes.

His lips clamped down on her breast and she squirmed trying to buck him off her.  This was not her husband, but some madman who had possessed his body.  He bit down hard on her nipple and she did cry out in pain just as he stiffened and moaned as he met his release.

Spent and exhausted his vision cleared and he found his beautiful wife sobbing and looking frightened underneath him.  Confused, he realized he was the reason she was in such a state.  He released her wrists and was shocked when she brought her knees up underneath him, planted her feet on his chest and kicked him off her.  He hit the bedpost with a loud thud.

"Do—Don't you ever touch me again," she said, sobbing and rolling onto her side.  She curled up into a fetal position, the sobs wracking her body so hard the bed shook.

"What...I don't..."

"How could you?  How could you hurt me like that?" she asked softly.

He had no idea what had happened.  He pulled the blanket over her and spooned in behind her.  Sliding an arm underneath her and the other over her, he held her comfortingly.  She did not push him away and for that he was grateful.  Their lovemaking had turned violent and he was the reason; he had lost control when the ugly truth he had been keeping from her had invaded his thoughts.  Flashes of photographs and messages played through his mind and he had forgotten his wife, forgotten everything except the vileness that played in his mind.  For his eyes only.

************

Stretching the sleep from his body, he felt the pain in his back radiate up and down his spine.  He was pretty sure he knocked a couple discs out of place when he crashed against the bedpost the night before.  The memories of the previous night crashed through the thin, hazy veil that hung between sleep and consciousness.  What had he done?  He reached for the soft comfort of his wife's body and found he was alone.  

Pulling on a pair of sweats, he went in search of her.  He had to explain.  Explain what? The little voice in his head asked.  You can't tell her those things, it told him.

He found her in the kitchen, bent over the sink.  She had already dressed in a tan skirt and long-sleeved white blouse; the sleeves were pushed up to her elbows and her hands were plunged into the water.  When she heard him she turned quickly and hid her dripping wet hands behind her back.  He quirked a brow and moved closer and looked over her shoulder.  The sink was full of ice water.   Her eyes questioned him softly as he cupped her face and kissed her gently.  He trailed his hands down her shoulder and arms until he prodded her to unclasp her hands behind her back.  

He saw it, what she was hiding, the moment she moved her arms in front of her.  Deep, dark bruises formed a ring around her wrists.  He could see the impression of a thumb on the underside, in the soft fleshy area where the vein was most evident.  His eyes filled with tears and they flowed unchecked down his face.  

She shushed him softly and placed her hands on his cheeks.  "Tiger, you once told me 'no more lies'," she whispered softly as she pulled him into her arms.  "Now, I'm holding you to that.  You're hiding something from me and, whatever it is, it is eating you alive."

************


	7. The Shay/Frankie Showdown

Jake chuckled at the sight before him.  There, sprawled out on the conference table flat on her back was one deeply sleeping Francesca Battles.  She looked so peaceful as she slept.  He thought back to the first time he'd seen his 'biscuit'.  He'd seen Frankie in many different emotional and personal levels.  Many times he'd wondered what things would be like if he'd stayed the night with her instead of Frank.

At the sound of Cody coming in, Frankie stirred and shifted.  She rolled her head over, the thick cascade of black hair fell over the edge of the table to puddle on the floor and the file that had laid open across her stomach fluttered in sheets to the floor.  The only other time she looked even more alluring than she did now was when she'd hurled a butcher knife across her living room at his head.

"Criminy what a thought" he whispered as he set the overnight bag down on the nearby chair and leaned over her ear.

"Francesca..." he whispered.

"Mmmmm" she mumbled, her head rolling over towards the sound.  What a silky sound.

"Francesca... wake up sunshine" he whispered in her ear, his mouth close enough to fan the shell of her ear.

"Mmmmm... Jake..." she sighed softly as her head turned and her lips came a mere breath from his.  Her gray eyes opened with a smile.  "What a way to wake up."

"Good Morning Firecracker," he whispered.

The only thing that stopped him from kissing her right there was Cody's cough from his computer console.  Jake chuckled as he backed up and Frankie sat up slowly with a stretch.  "I brought your clothes.  You pulled an all-nighter again?"

"Yeah.  Cody can fill you in on what we came up with while I change clothing."

As she left, Cody's cell phone rang.  The caller ID showed it was Shay.

"Yeah, Uncle Sam's Mortuary.  You stab 'em, we slab 'em."

"That was bad taste, considering this case.  Get me anything you can find on Francesca Battles."

"Frankie?  Why do you want a background on her?" he asked.

"Cody, just do it," she demanded.

"Ya know...you've been sleeping with the boss too long," he quipped.

"Yeah...or not long enough.  Will you do it, or not?"

"Sure, Shay...I'll get it done."

"Thanks, see you in a few."

As he hung up, Frankie walked back in, her hands fussing with her hair. "What does she want with my background files?"  She finally got the hair stick in just right and smoothed out her clothing.  The black leather pants fit her like second skin all the way down to the black leather boots with the 2-inch needle-like heels and extremely pointed toes.  She had a black tank top on under a white suit coat that dipped down at the hem to just above her mid-thigh.  It was threaded with white silk ribbons lacing the cut out strips together.  The whole effect was imposing as she walked back with her hair twisted up behind her head.

"She... ah.. didn't say." Cody stammered.

"She didn't, hm?"

"Now, Frankie.." Jake started.

"Now, nothing, Jake.  If she wants to know about me, she can damned well ask me.  

"I know, Frankie.  All I know is that she just called on her way in and requested a background on you."

"Jake... Leave Mrs. Frank Donovan to me, please." was all she said as she brushed by him and into the break room for some coffee.

Jake and Cody exchanged a look before Cody shouted.  "DON'T LOSE YOUR TEMPER, FRANKIE!!"

Shay unlocked the door and slipped into the nest without any fanfare.  However, as she slid by Jake and Cody, Frankie was coming out of the break room with a mug of coffee.

"Snooping before breakfast, eh?  And Cody, I haven't lost my temper in some years... not since I threw a frying pan at a half-naked man in my apartment."  She winked at Jake and turned to face Shay.

"Miss Battles, what are you talking about?" Shay replied, stepping past her and Jake, into the break room.

"Mrs. Donovan, I'm talking about your request for a full background on me.  Next time you want something, make sure I'm not within earshot.  If you want my information, then be a lady and ask me directly."

Shay quirked an eyebrow at the brunette.  "My apologies, Miss Battles.  One, I cannot see through a telephone line and two, most people have a home to go to," Shay retorted.   "I don't know you from Adam, and I like to know who I'm dealing with.  Sure, I could ask you and get what information you _choose_ to tell me.  I run a background, and I get the information I _want_ to know.  And as far as being a lady, you've got a helluva lot of room to talk."

Frankie chuckled and set the mug down.  Jake edged over towards Frankie and Shay in case things got nasty and Cody backed up, looking around the room.

"Relax Cody.  There's no butcher knives or wingback chairs here and I've got a firm grip on my temper.  As for you, Donovan..."  Frankie picked up the mug and sipped it with a slow smile.  "While you were, ahem, occupied, I was here working.  It is not a matter of not having a home to go to but simply a matter of wanting to catch Dari's killer."  She sipped at the coffee again and walked past Jake.  "I never claimed to be a lady, Donovan.  But, then, you'd know that if you ever ramped down on your hostility towards me."

Shay almost laughed at that last remark.  _Her_ hostility?  She had received nothing _but_ hostility from the territorial Francesca Battles from the moment they met at Darinda's funeral.  "Whatever you say, Battles.  Apparently you have a twisted sense of reality, but far be it from me to shatter your illusions."  Shay moved past her to pour a cup of coffee.

"Reality is 99% perception.  I suggest you accept that I'm working with Frank and his team on this and get over it.  I have no illusions, woman.  Any that I had were wiped away long before you ever darkened this doorstep!"

Her head was beginning to ache and she silently cursed her husband for bringing this she-devil into their midst.  "Do _not_ call me woman and I _am_ part of this team, like it or not."  Shay sipped at her coffee, she was tired of foiling with this woman.  "Besides that, I'm not the one crawling all over a married man." Shay slammed her cup on the counter.

"Temper, temper," Frankie scolded.  Frankie got right up behind her and whispered in Shay's ear.  "Perhaps if his wife wasn't such a frigid shrew, he wouldn't need me to comfort him."

"Jesus, Frankie," Jake finally moved into the midst of the conversation.  "You have no right to talk like that. Nor do you know what Frank and Shay have been through...together...with the team."

Frankie backed up with a smile.  "You're correct, darlin'.  I don't.  But then, she has no right to presume facts that do not exist."  She turned and walked out to pick up the file she'd dropped while getting off of the table.  As she left, she chuckled.  "Frank's women come and go... but one thing remains the same.  And that, is me."

Shay turned and laughed hatefully.  "Oh?  I don't recall him ever mentioning the wonderful woman who always remains.  And...I might ask...if you're just the end all that beats all...why are _you_ not Mrs. Franklin Donovan?"

Frankie just laughed and kept walking into the conference room.  If Shay Donovan wanted to think that Frankie was after Frank, then that was her business.  Through it all, Frankie had never asked more of Frank than friendship and trust.  When each of his past relationships bombed, Frankie was there to give a friendly word and hug and get him righteous with himself again.

"Shay..."  Jake reached out to her.

Shay shrugged past him.  "Let her think what she wants, Jake.  I don't give a damn...I have more important things to worry about."  She left the two of them to find a quiet place to ease her aching head.

Not really feeling up to having any more conversations or listening to Frankie's taunts, distracted with the disturbing behavior of her husband and his reluctance to take her into his confidence, Shay sat down at her desk without so much as another word to anyone.  She rested her elbows on her desk and cradled her aching head in her hands.  

Jake lifted a brow and approached her desk.  Things between her and Frankie had gotten worse and Jake wanted to remedy that.  If Shay understood more about their past with Frankie, she would know there was a deep friendship between her husband and the gorgeous PI.  As he neared her, he noticed the bruises around her wrists.  She had apparently tried to hide them by wearing long sleeves; unfortunately, they rode up when she bent her elbows.  Jake felt and tasted the bile as it rose in his throat.  Heaven help Frank Donovan when he next saw him.  He turned and left Shay to her thoughts without disturbing her.

************


	8. The S**T Hits the Fan

The sound of the door clicking into place alerted the team that Frank had arrived.  Jake wasted no time in heading toward the doorway to meet him.  "You filthy sonofabitch," he yelled as he connected a tremendous right cross to Donovan's cheekbone.

The force of the blow was enough to knock Frank off his feet.  Jake stood over him, bent down and grabbed him by the collar.  "I told you once, if you ever hurt her...I would kill you."  

Frank stayed down.  The raw hatred that blazed in Jake's eyes warned him Jake's intensions were real.  "Jake..."

By this time, Shay, Frankie and Cody had reached Jake's side.  Jake reached out with his free hand and grabbed one of Shay's arms, pulling the sleeve upward.  "Try...just try...explaining your way out of this."

Frank knew to what Jake referred, and watched as all eyes fell to Shay's badly bruised wrist.  What could he say?  He practically raped his wife?  

Frankie's eyes flicked from the bruises to Frank's face.  She could see the truth and more in his expression.  It was time.

Shay pulled out of Jake's grip and laid a gentle hand on his shoulder.  "Jake...it...it was an accident."

"Hon," he said, releasing Frank and taking both her hands in his, turning them palm upward; revealing the bruises.  "This was no accident."

 Frankie offered Frank a hand up.  "C'mon, darlin'.  Better put some ice on that cheekbone before your face starts to look like the Elephant Man."  She pulled him up and pushed him off towards the break room.

Jake started to follow.  He was not finished.  Not by a long shot.

Frankie turned around and held up her right index finger.  The look on her face brooked no argument.  She looked back at Frank to see him enter the break room.  "Go.  Talk to Shay.  Frank and I are going to have a 'Come To Jesus' meeting."  She left Jake with that and closed the door to the break room.

"Jake."

He turned to face Shay.  "Don't.  Don't you dare defend him."

She shook her head and took his hand.  "Remember what I told you yesterday.  There's something going on, Jake.  Something he's keeping from all of us.  It's making him something he's not."

"I don't care, Shay.  He's a monster."

"Okay, Jake.  Go on...kill him.  It won't change what happened."  She sighed and sat down in a nearby chair.  "The only thing that will make any difference if he decides to open up to us.  Hell...maybe 'his Francesca' will get him to talk."

"Cut her some slack, Shay.  She's been through a lot in her life and Darinda was her friend."  

Shay could hear the admiration Jake had for Frankie in his voice.  "So, tell me, Agent Shaw...what is so great about that woman, anyway?"

Jake laughed.  "Well, if you were a man, I wouldn't have to tell you." He winked and Shay laughed easily.  "Ah, at least you haven't lost your sense of humor.  Did you know that Frankie was a Private Investigator?  Or that Frank gave her a glowing recommendation to the FBI Academy?"

Shay shook her head.  "You know that I never heard of her before yesterday.  She's that good, huh?"

"I wouldn't have anyone else besides her and Alex helping with this or covering my back."

"So, if she's that good, why isn't she Federal?"

"She told Frank that it wasn't her style, turned it down without even blinking.  Something about liking the hours, the freedom and her own dress code.  She's not evil Shay and she's got a heart of gold under that street exterior."

"And I should ignore the fact that she's all over Frank every time I turn around?  She's probably kissing it and making it all better."

"If I were to tell you that she's his friend and nothing else, would you believe me?"

"Is that what you're saying, Jake?"  Shay searched his face for the truth. "Then what's she doing?"

"If I know Frankie... Holding his head in the toilet and giving him a full swirlie.  She doesn't hold with violence against women of any kind, intentional or accidental."

"Will he listen?"

"If he wants to live past her temper he will."

"What was that crack earlier about frying pans, wingbacks and butcher knives?"

"Last time Francesca lost her temper it was after she found her brother had run away.  She and Frank were.. ah.. well..." he chuckled a bit. "Anyway... she snapped.  Under the tremendous amount of pressure she'd been under for months, then to discover that her brother running away - it was inevitable.  Cody, Monica and I walked in to see her throwing all sorts of items across the room, the sofa was overturned and she missed my right ear by this much with a butcher knife."  He held up his thumb and forefinger barely half an inch apart.  "She also winged a frying pan, a wrought iron lamp and a wingback chair at all of us.  It took Frank tackling her to the ground and holding her there until she wore herself out."

"So she's unstable?"

"No.  She's got a temper, yeah.  But it takes an act of God to set her off."  Jake chuckled and tugged at a lock of Shay's honey blonde hair. "Are you ready to call it a draw and make nice with her?"

"Guess that depends on her, Jake. If she continues to try to provoke me, I may just have to shoot her and hide the body." She smiled when Jake chuckled and then stood and looked around. "Cody...where's that damned file?  Someday I'll get the whole story on how Francesca Battles come to grace everyone's presence."

"Sure.  Just make sure to ask her personally.  She's got nothing to hide and if you ask, she'll tell you everything."

************

Frank winced as Frankie held the cloth wrapped ice to his cheek.  It felt like Jake had hit him with a brick.

"Are you finally going to tell me what the hell is going on?"

"It's nothing Frankie."

Frankie raised an eyebrow and pressed the icepack deeper into the bluing bruise.

The action elicited a hiss of pain and Frank's firm grip on her wrist to peel her hand back.  "Drop it Francesca!"

Frankie dropped the ice pack and twisted her hand around to grip his wrist, then twisted her arm and put a painful pressure on his elbow in a smooth motion.  "No, Frank.  YOU are skating on thin ice here.  Those bruises weren't there yesterday and I can do the math.  You're out of your normal character, snapping at your wife of all people and now she's got bruises to beat the band.  Jake's lost it and there lies the proof.  You are going to tell me what's going on or I'm walking out of this case right now."

Frank's other hand gripped her wrist and slowly he peeled his wrist out of her grip.  For a moment, he smiled.  Then the reality of it set in and he sighed.  Grabbing a mug of coffee, he sat down at the table, his head hung in almost defeat.

"I don't know what happened.  I wasn't all there.  I remember going home, then I remember waking up to see her shaking and scared."

Frankie watched him.  For once, she knew what it was like.  She'd been where he was as far as stress and pressure.  He was near a breaking point, strange how fate can turn things around in a matter of a few years. Frankie crossed the room and put her hands on his shoulders, rubbing them gently.  "Frank."

"Yes, Francesca?"

She pulled him upright and massaged deep into his neck and shoulders. "It's time you got righteous with yourself again.  Your wife needs you, your children need you, your team needs you.  I'll give you everything I can to help with this case, but you've got to let your wife in and let her help you."

"What did I do to deserve this..." he whispered, not really to anyone.

At first Frankie wasn't sure she'd heard him.  But, she chuckled and answered.  "You saved my life, Frank Donovan."

"No.  This case, these deaths."

"You didn't do anything.  There's a killer out there who's escalating. Sooner or later he'll be caught and life will go on."

Frank nodded.

"Frank, I've been there every time your love life hit bottom.  You were there for me in the darkest hour of my life and for that I will always owe you."  She came around beside him and sat down on the table.  "Hey darlin'..."

Frank looked up and hugged her tight for a moment.  "Thank You Francesca."

"Oh, stop that.  If your wife sees this she'll think I'm trying to seduce you again."

"Again?"

"Yeah.  For some odd reason she's got the idea that I'm crawling all over you and trying to seduce you.  Too bad she doesn't know me and my healthy respect for the institution of marriage."

"You've never been married or so in love that you're not thinking straight."

"Maybe I have."  At Frank's look she chuckled.  "Yes, Frank, life did go on after you and I realized that there wasn't anything there after Eric's funeral.  But, for him... I'll always be a friend."  Frankie stood up and slid off her suit jacket.  The tank top she had on underneath revealed the woven circular tattoo around her navel and a fresh navel ring.

Frank was fairly certain that it was short enough to reveal the tattoo in the small of her back as well.  "Thank you, again, Francesca.  I'll talk to Shay about her misunderstandings of your intentions."

"No.  Talk to her about why you're not you recently.  Talk to her about how much you love her and need her and how sorry you are for behaving the way you have been.  Leave Shay Donovan's misconceptions to me.  Get Righteous with yourself again, Frank.  That's thanks enough."  Frankie threw her white-ribboned jacket over her arm and made to leave the break room to Frank and his thoughts.

"Francesca..." Frank called before she reached the door.

"Yeah, darlin'?" 

"She's not at all like you make her out to be."  He grinned thinking back to the first time he'd met "his gift".  "She saved my bacon more than once; the little spitfire even carried my sorry hide tossed over her shoulder through the Colombian jungle in her bare feet because I was half dead."

"And, you're telling me this, why?" 

"Thought it might make it easier for you to accept her if you knew, that's all.  Your friendship means a lot to me.  I know you mean well, but Shay doesn't know you yet.  She'll come around...I've given her enough to deal with lately; don't push her over the edge."

"No promises."  Frankie smiled and winked before leaving the room.  

************


	9. Add it all up and you get...Nothing

"Hey, Cody."

"Yeah Frankie?"

"Where's Jake?"

Cody pointed to where he and Shay were talking.

"Thanks."  She left him at the computer and walked over just in time to hear Shay telling Jake sooner or later she'd get the whole Francesca Battles story.  "Jake."

Jake turned and looked at Frankie.  "How's Frank?"

"He's alive and hopefully he's getting righteous again.  I think he'll want to talk to his wife sooner or later... preferably sooner."  She smirked and took Jake's arm.

"Hey.  'Frank's Wife' has a name." Shay called after them as she kept pace.

"I'm sure you do, and someday, I might remember it." Frankie retorted, not skipping a step as she led Jake to where she'd tacked the photos up on the wall.  "Last night, after everyone had left, Cody and I were here studying these photos.  There's something here that I don't know if the behaviorists caught before."

"What's that?" both Shay and Jake asked in unison.

Frankie tossed her jacket onto the table and stepped up to the photos.  "He loved his victims.  Either that or respected them a whole hell of a lot. At first I tried to put a sequence to them, but nothing congruous came up. There is no similarity to these killings except the Scenes of Discovery.  A motel room, raped, stabbed, strangled and then posed for modesty.  The very idea of covering their nudity suggests that love or respect.  I didn't see it until I tacked them up."

"We've already gone over the posing and M.O.  Tell us something we don't know." Shay bit out.

"Alright.  There is no pattern here.  It's the same killer, but it's not a serial... not one that we can identify yet.  A nurse, a beauty queen and a cop.  They don't look alike, they don't know each other, and they don't operate in the same social circles.  That one of them was discovered in Florida tossed a wrench into the plot.  But, this guy is meticulous..."

"Go on..."

"No DNA.  So, he used a condom, or an object.  The last victim, Darinda, had more stab wounds.  Either she fought back, took longer to die, or he's losing his self-control.  What puzzles me is how he got the upper hand with Dari.  She's my size and in training for the undercover units with 'Blue'. She had to have known him or trusted him... or have been surprised."

"But, we're no further with this than yesterday."

"Actually, we are.  You and I are talking civilly."

Shay cracked a grin before she could stop herself.

"What do we know about Skinner down in Florida?" Jake interjected.

"Not much.  I fell asleep reading the reports on the Carruther's murder. It's a good thing the bodies are still on ice at the ME's office."  Frankie stood back against the table with Shay and Jake.

Jake smiled at the memory of finding Frankie asleep on the conference table this morning.  Involuntarily, his hand slid over and he brushed his fingers against Frankie's.

Shay's eyes drifted over the photos.  She was missing that something; she knew it.

"The poses are all the same essentially."  Frankie offered.  "Except the minute differences.  Little details are all I see."

"Such as?" Jake asked.

"Their hands.  Same arm is crossed over the other on all of them, but their hands are different.  Probably Rigor setting in by the time the photos were taken.  CODY!"

"WHAT?!"  He was getting tired of being yelled at.  Especially when he was less than 10 feet from them.

"See if you can book a flight to Valparaiso Florida for me."

"What's on your mind Francesca?" Jake asked quietly.

Frankie looked at Jake.  He'd called her Francesca... usually he called her Frankie or Firecracker...  "A little snooping around, see if I can find something that the local Blue missed."

"Cody."

"Yes Jake?"

"Book a flight for me too.  Shay, tell Frank that Frankie and I are going down to check into the Skinner murder to see if we can turn something up they couldn't."

************


	10. In Flight

Frankie's eyes were a bit bloodshot as she re-read through the file jacket on Nessa Skinner.  However, her mind wasn't on the file, it was on Jake as he sat next to her.  He'd called her Francesca earlier.  It didn't have the same effect on her as when Frank said it... but she discovered that she liked it all the same.  And then there was the way he brushed his fingers up against hers as the three of them inspected the photos again of the murdered girls.

'Don't be ridiculous Frankie-girl.  He'll never think of you as anything more than a friend.'  She sighed softly and flipped the computer-generated report over and pulled the red pen out from behind her ear.

Jake heard her sigh for the hundredth time and looked over at her.  She had passed up the complimentary drinks and the in-flight dinner.  Her eyes were trained on the file and reports in it.  Thank God that she was on the window seat and they were the only two in the last row because she'd kept the photos of Nessa taken at the scene out on the tray table.  To the civilians who hadn't seen this directly for the last 48 hours might get a little queasy.  Even the flight attendant on her way by turned a bit green

"What's puzzling you Firecracker?" he whispered.

"Hmm?"  She looked up, the pen clenched between her teeth and the file in mid-flip.

"What are you working on?  You've gone over that file so many times I think you've scribbled in all the blank spaces."

"Oh."  She sighed and closed the file.  "I just get the feeling that if I look hard enough, I'll find that little missing piece, y'know?"

"Look.  Things like this work themselves out and we catch lucky breaks. This guy is only on number three and we have a long way to go.  Your eyes are red.  You need to rest."

"I'll rest when Dari's killer is in jail," she whispered.  Her voice cracked a tiny bit as she looked down.

"Hey... easy there Francesca." Jake whispered as he put his arms around her and pulled her close.

In the comfort of his embrace, she finally let go.  For two days she'd held it in and put on a solid front for Frank and for Dari's mother and father. "She was only a year younger than I was." she whispered.  "She was so smart and strong and had her whole life ahead of her.  Dari still believed, Jake. She had her illusions despite being a cop.  The closer she got to her appointment into the precinct's undercover unit, the closer friends she and I became.  I tried so hard to get her ready for the cold truth of life on the street and she still just smiled and laughed like I was the over-protective mother hen."

"You did the best you could Francesca."  Jake murmured in her ear and rubbed her back soothingly.  This was the second time since he'd met her that he'd seen her cry.  He reached over and flipped the lock on her seat belt open. He pulled her over into his lap and cradled her against him, her forehead resting against his neck.

Frankie's tears slowed and eventually they ceased all together.  The feel of Jake's hand rubbing her back was very calming and soothing.  "I'm not evil," she whispered.

"I know you're not, Francesca.  But give Shay some time to get to know you. Once she does and she sees what I see, she's going to love you.  Just like we all do."

"Jake."

"Yes darlin'?"

Frankie chuckled at his use of her own phrasing against her.  She sat up and slid back into her seat.  "Do you believe me when I tell you that nothing ever happened between me and Frank?"

"What makes you ask that?"  Jake took the marked up file and slid it into a briefcase that sat on the floor between them.

"I don't know.  I just need to tell you that.  I remember how you looked at me when we first met... and how you looked at me later in my apartment the morning Eric disappeared.  I've seen a few of the looks you give Frank when he and I see each other.  I just wanted you to know darlin', that despite what I let everyone believe, that nothing ever happened between Frank and I except a kiss.  I needed someone that night, a shoulder to cry on.  And his was convenient.  We're friends, and nothing else.  I love him like he was my older brother."

Jake watched her.  Her posture and body language gave clear signs that she wasn't lying to soothe his ego.  She didn't fidget, she didn't avoid his eyes and she didn't stutter or search for anything to say.

"I know." was all Jake could say as he looked down and pulled a magazine out of the seatback in front of him.  As he forced himself to keep his nose buried in the print, he heard Frankie shifting around in the seat next to him.

After an hour or so, he felt her sliding down onto his shoulder.  He looked up to see Frankie fast asleep and half leaning back, half leaning against him.  His fingers came up slowly, hesitantly, to brush the stray wisps of her black hair from her forehead.  "God help me, Francesca..." he whispered, unable to voice the rest.  His thumb brushed against her cheek as he shifted in his seat.

Frankie murmured and shifted again, snuggling up against Jake's shoulder. Even in her slumber she could smell his scent and she was comforted by it. As she dreamed, the fingers of her right hand slid down and twined in with his, holding his hand as she slept.

An elderly lady also on the flight passed by them and smiled.  What a lovely couple...

************


	11. Messes and Morgues

Frankie and Jake's plane landed at roughly 2:30 PM Florida time.  They were met at the gate by two of the local police department detectives and they, along with their carry-on bags, were whisked off to the precinct headquarters.  After all the introductions and pleasantries were made, Frankie and Jake were taken out to the scene of discovery for their own look-see.  Nothing out of the ordinary from the file.  Everything that was still there was listed in the file and in detail as well.  Frankie blew a wisp of bangs out of her eyes in frustration.  She had hoped to find something, anything that would give them something to go on.

Once they both realized that nothing more could be found in the police reports, Jake suggested they split up and tackle two projects at once. "I'll go to Skinner's apartment if you'll go to the Morgue and look over the body with the coroner."

"You got it.  Meet me back at the hotel for dinner then?" she winked as the one detective led her out to his car and Jake was led out to another one.

--

Jake looked in through the door of the apartment with a sigh.  She wasn't exactly Martha Stewart and it looked like she hadn't cleaned house in a month of Sundays.  He ran his hand though his hair and grabbed a box. "Better get to it."

He wandered through the entire place first, looking at photographs and her knickknacks.  Nessa Skinner was a grown woman with the softer side of a little girl.  She had stuffed animals on her bed and a few of the beanie bears littered the home.  Her family pictures showed a bright and cheerful woman.  Jake's next move was to her desk.  He looked for her organizer, wallet, calendar, anything that would have given a schedule or contacts or some sort of clue as to who she would have trusted or who had last seen her.

"Hello..." Jake pulled a book from her desk.  "Now what would a High School yearbook be doing on your desk Ms. Skinner?"  It was odd, he knew, to find a yearbook from over 10 years ago sitting out on her desk conveniently. Casually he flipped through it for a few moments before he put it into the box along with her address book and day planner.

"I'll need to get a copy of her phone records, guest log in from the lobby downstairs."

"We've gotten statements already from her co-workers and her neighbors to see if they've heard anything.  She's got some close friends that we've spoken to already."

"I want those statements too, Investigator Battles and I will go over those to see if there is anything we can put together."

"I'll call the station and have copies made for you."

--

Across town in the County Morgue, Frankie was dressed in a full frontal rubber apron and elbow-length heavy-duty rubber gloves.  Her hair had been tied back and both she and the coroner were poking and prodding around with Nessa Skinner's body.

"I hate to ask you all the same questions the detectives have, but..."

"It's alright Miss..."

"Frankie.  Call me Frankie."

"Alright.  Frankie... We swabbed her vaginal and anal orifices for semen or any other form of foreign DNA, scraped her fingernails for tissue samples, removed fibers from her wrists and ankles, took castings of the stab wounds.."

"You did the full run down then.  Anything unusual?"

"No.  She's amazingly clean.  The place she was found was antiseptic as far as her blood contamination."

"Which means she was killed elsewhere and moved to the motel room."

"You got it.  It also means she was stabbed repeatedly, AFTER she was strangled.  The petechiae and ligature marks tell us that she was alive when she started to asphyxiate.  The lack of clotting and general blood tells us that she was stabbed after the heart had stopped."

Frankie made some sort of 'hm' noise as she leaned over the Frankenstein like body.  It didn't even look like a real body... "Oral?"

"What?"

"Her mouth.  Did you swab her mouth by any chance?"

"No, we didn't.  We didn't see where any damage was done to her mouth."

"I see."  Something caught her eye and she leaned in closer to the body's mouth.

"What is it Miss Battles?"

"It's Frankie... and I see something.  Get me a swab please?"

The coroner handed her a long cotton swab moistened with some fluid.  "What do you see?"  When Frankie didn't answer him, but instead tilted the body's head back and forced the lips apart, he leaned in closer.  "We're not used to getting Federal help on our murder investigations.  Mind telling me why you and your partner are so intrigued by this case?"

"We think it's one of a serial killing." Frankie murmured as she swabbed the inside of the lower lip.  As she stood upright, the coroner could see that there was a slight pinkish cast to the swab.  "Run that for Miss Skinner's DNA and anything else.  Call it a hunch, but I have a feeling our killer loved his ladies so much, he couldn't resist one last kiss before leaving them."  She handed the swab to the coroner and snapped off her gloves as she left the room.

As Frankie pushed out of the doors and stripped off the rubber apron, she just let it fall to the floor as she bolted for the bathroom to heave up her breakfast.

************


	12. You've Got a Way With Me

Cody had run out to the Chinese restaurant around the corner for a quick dinner and was bringing something back for Frank and Shay.  She had pushed the idea because she needed to talk to her husband alone.

Pushing the intercom button, she said, "Donovan...get your ass down here."  She grinned when she heard the slam of his chair into the wall behind his desk and his footsteps as he descended the stairs.  

"Dammit, Shay...must you embar..." he trailed off when he saw they were alone.

"Yes, Bossman, sir.  It's my job to embarrass you.  However, tonight is not the night."  She moved closer and touched his arm lightly as she looked into his intensely dark eyes.  "Tiger, please, you've got to tell me what's going on inside that head of yours."

He shook his head and turned away from her.  "Don't push me, Shay.  It's none of your business."  He knew the moment the words left his mouth that it was the stupidest thing he could have said to her.  She was his wife; everything about him was her business.

"Fine, Frank.  Have it your way.  Keep it bottled up inside you until it spills out of your ears and explodes what's left of your brain.  You're letting it eat away at you like a cancer.  I can't watch it any longer; nor will I let the children see you like this."  He turned slowly to face her, almost as if he knew what she was about to tell him.  "I worry that you'll take it out on them, the way you did me, without realizing you're doing it.  I'm taking the kids to Dad's; we'll stay with him for awhile."

He felt his body tremble, at first he wondered if they were having an earthquake until he realized it was he who was doing all the shaking.  He took a step closer to her, but stopped, afraid his unsteady legs wouldn't support him.  The thought of losing her and the kids, even temporarily, was more than he could bear.  "Please, Shay...don't leave me.  You and the kids...you're all I've got left."

Shay's heart broke into a thousand pieces when she heard the desperation in his voice.  He was her soul mate; if only he would open up and let her in, he might find peace.  

A soft noise from Cody's console interrupted the silence as his media player changed selections and the soft, acoustic rhythm filled the nest.  Shay closed the distance between them and placed her hands lightly on his arms.  "Baby, the last thing I want to do is leave, but if you can't trust me enough to let me in, there's something wrong with our marriage."

He blinked back the tears that were starting to form behind his eyes and tried to speak, but his emotions had a choke hold on his vocal chords.  He touched his forehead to hers, his gaze never once leaving hers as he pulled her into his embrace and they began to move slowly to the soft tempo of the music.

_You've got a way with me  
Somehow you got me to believe  
In everything that I could be  
I've gotta say--you really got a way_

Shay wound her arms around his neck as they moved.  She could feel his heart beat, felt his breath against her cheek.   He was her life and it killed her inside knowing he did not trust her enough to let her help him.

Frank's mental and emotional exhaustion overwhelmed him.  This was it, his breaking point.  The monster had won and he was losing everything good about his life.  He rested his head on her shoulder and breathed in her scent.  She smelled of lavender soap and sunshine.  She always reminded him of sunshine.  She was the light in his darkness.  

You've got a way it seems  
You gave me faith to find my dreams  
You'll never know just what that means  
Can't you see... you got a way with me

This morning had been the first time she had ever seen Frank Donovan cry.  She ached for him, for his pain when she felt the sobs that now wracked his body as he held her close, as if trying to hold on to that elusive lifeline.  "Please, my love.  Let me help you." 

Still, he did not answer.  No words would come, he could merely cling tighter to her, praying for strength.

_It's in the way you want me  
It's in the way you hold me  
The way you show me just what Iove's made of  
It's in the way we make love_

_You've got a way with words  
You get me smiling even when it hurts  
There's no way to measure what your love is worth  
I can't believe the way you get through to me_

She placed a gentle hand at the back of his head and kissed his tear soaked cheek gently before placing her cheek against his and whispered the lyrics to the song in his ear.

_It's in the way you want me  
It's in the way you hold me  
The way you show me just what Iove's made of  
It's in the way we make love_

Oh, how I adore you  
Like no one before you  
I love you just the way you are

He lifted his head slowly, hearing the tears in her own voice, knowing she was crying for him, for his pain, for his torment.  Without knowing why, she was feeling everything he was feeling, and shared it with him willingly.  

Standing still now, facing each other, Shay continued to sing to her husband.

_It's in the way you want me  
It's in the way you hold me  
The way you show me just what Iove's made of  
It's in the way we make love_

_It's just the way you are_

He touched her cheek and wiped a tear away.  "I love you, _mon cadeau_."

"Come back to me, Tiger," she pleaded one last time.

He nodded slowly as he folded her into his embrace and kissed her softly.  "I'll show you, tell you, everything.  Just don't let go."

"Never," she whispered before their lips met passionately. 

***Lyrics from the song "You've Got A Way" from the CD "Come On Over" by Shania Twain.  Written by Shania Twain and Robert "Mutt" Lange © 1997 Songs of PolyGram Int'l, Inc/Loon Echo Inc (BMI); Out of Pocket Productions, LTD.


	13. Truth Revealed

Watching out the window of his office, he kept his back to the computer while Shay looked over the disc that had arrived.  He cringed each time Darinda's voice accused him "all because of you".  

Shay watched the slides with the eyes of a profiler.  Even the analytical mind couldn't shut out the suffering those women went through.  The feelings of a wife lead her to click the volume button and mute the accusing sound .wav.  

"I'm not seeing it," Shay said, breaking the silence moments later.

"Seeing what," he asked, turning back to face her.

"What the killer is trying to tell you," she replied as she stood and moved toward him and placed a hand on his arm.

"Maybe it's nothing more than to frame me," he said quietly.

"How?  What connection is there?  I know you dated..." she trailed off.  Her eyes flew to his in understanding.  "You were involved with all of them?"

His response was to pull her into his embrace and rest his chin on top of her head.  

"Hmmm...punish you, I think."  She pulled away slightly.  "You know this killer, Frank...he is part of your past, even your present."

"I've thought of that, but who?  There's no connection."

The outside door closed loudly signaling Cody's return.  Shay pulled away and moved toward the office door, but before she could reach it Frank grasped her by the shoulders and turned her to face him.

"I should have told you...and the team, from the beginning."  He waited for her response but she merely nodded her head in agreement.  "And...what happened...what I did to you; I can never make that right."

"You just did, Tiger." She leaned forward and brushed her lips against his.  "No more lies...no more secrets," she whispered.

"_Pardonnez-moi et aimez-moi, mon cadeau_," he replied softly before he kissed her deeply.

The sound of Cody clearing his throat pulled them apart.  Cody laughed at their embarrassment.  "I'm trying to come up with something witty to say, but all that comes to mind is 'get a room' and that's so overdone."  

Shay laughed and took the to-go bag from his hand.  "Give it a rest, geek-boy.  Come on; we've got work to do." 

Cody made a face at her back.  "Yes, your hind-ass."

Frank just shook his head as he followed behind them.  

"What do you have in mind, Shay?" Frank asked as they headed toward the break room.

"We need to find the piece that completes the pyramid.  We know you're connected to all of these women in one sense or another, but who is close enough to you to know you and those women?"  She took a couple plates from the cupboard and set them on the table.  "What's for dinner, Cody?"

He shrugged.  "You didn't tell me what you wanted, so I brought you back a pu pu platter and fried rice."

Frank sat down and picked up an egg roll and a packet of duck sauce.  "Call Jake and let them know what I showed you.  I don't know what they can dig up in Florida, but maybe we'll get lucky."

"When does Cody get filled in, hmmm?" he asked, leaning against the doorjamb.  

Frank sighed.  There was nothing like airing his dirty laundry, so to speak.  "I dated all the victims.  Nessa was my high school sweetheart.  I dated LeighAnne for a short time before she became Miss Illinois, and you know about Darinda."

**Pardonnez-moi et aimez-moi, mon cadeau = forgive me and love me, my gift.

************

Gazing down into her face, he fed off the fear he read in her eyes.  This one was different; he had no desire to love her physically.  He touched her cheek gently, not surprised when she wrenched away from him.

He looked over her lovingly.  She lay fully clothed in her light blue housedress on the bed in the secluded run-down motel room.  Having no wish to hear this one's screams, duck tape covered her mouth.  Her hands and ankles were bound by cloth from a torn pillowcase.  Her bottled blonde hair fanned the pillow; the moonlight glistened through the window, causing a halo effect.

No, he would not love her physically; he needed only to purge the anguish within in this time.  He loved her, so very much, but this was a different kind of love.  If only she could have loved and admired him the way she did the other...Frank Donovan.  Yes, if only...then he would not have to...

He shuddered when he saw the glint of the blade from the corner of his eye before he brought it down to sink deep into her chest.  Down...down...again and again...until he felt sated...his hatred drain and he felt then only the love for the woman who lay before him.  Untying her bonds, he positioned her carefully on the bed; hands and ankles crossed.

"Goodbye..." he whispered as he left the room; the door wide open for anyone to find what remained in the aftermath.

**********


	14. Discoveries of a Different Sort

Frankie sat on the bed with the coroner's file spread out around her.  Once the Valparaiso detective had dropped her back at the hotel, she immediately changed out of her leather pants and suit jacket in favor of a pair of knit shorts and a two sizes too big white cotton men's button down shirt.  She pulled her hair up on top of her head in a ponytail and slid some socks on as she ordered room service.

Jake knocked on the door and then slid his key in.  He came in to see Frankie reclined against the headboard with a pencil clenched between her teeth and a red pen tucked behind her ear.  Some locks of her black hair didn't quite get caught up in her ponytail and those legs that were as long as his speeding ticket record were bare from shorts to socks.  For a moment Jake stared at her legs, the file and box of Skinner's belongings forgotten.

"Darlin'?"  Frankie laughed and put the file aside as she sat up.  The white shirt slid off of her shoulder as she did and Jake got a good glimpse of her shoulder.  She wasn't wearing a bra...

"You better put that file box down before you drop it on your feet."  Just then there was a knock on the door and Frankie winked as she slid up off of the bed.

Jake turned and watched her.  Her derriere was just barely concealed by the almost too tight shorts and as she walked... He dropped the file box on the bed; it slipped out of his hands even as his jaw dropped.  When Frankie turned around with the tray of food in her hands, Jake blushed and quickly looked down.  "I... I uhh... got a few things out of Nessa's apartment. Mostly phone records, her calendar, her personal organizer, address book, and.."

"Jake."

"Yeah Frankie?"

"Shut up and eat something while we look over these reports."

**********

Smiling at the amount of food he managed to consume, Shay could tell Frank was feeling much more at ease with himself.  Getting that burden off his chest had to have done him a world of good.  She made a mental note to thank Frankie; whatever she had said to him had to have made some impact on him.  That, and the realization of how close he had come to losing his family.

She smiled wryly thinking of Frankie and the way Jake had spoken of her. She wondered if he knew how his eyes sparkled when he talked about her and she didn't miss the way he brushed his hand against Frankie's while they were going over the killer's MO.  She would have to pin him down when this was over, or the first chance she got, and see if he would admit that he wanted Francesca Battles as more than just a friend.

"Full yet, Tiger?" she asked with a laugh when Frank finally pushed his plate away from him.  Cody had gone back to the main room to run a broader background on all the victims to see if there were any common denominators that linked someone else between them and Frank.

He grinned sheepishly while he helped clear the table.

"Nice to see you eating again," she commented.  "Um...Frank?"

"Hmmm?"

"About Frankie..."

He moved closer and stood before her.  "Shay.  She's a friend..."

Shay laughed at his immediate reaction.  Had she been _that_ jealous?  "Whoa there big guy...I just wanted to say that I'm sorry that I overreacted." She stood on tiptoe and dropped a feather light kiss on the tip of his nose before leaving the room to make a call to Jake.

"Come on, Jake...pick up," Shay spoke to the ringing of the phone in her ear.

**********

An hour and two cheeseburgers with side orders of fries later, Frankie and Jake had gone through all of the personal belongings in the box from Skinner's apartment and Jake had the yearbook in hand.

"She was the prom queen."

Frankie pulled the cherry blowpop from her mouth.  "I can imagine Jake. She was a pretty woman."

"Oh my God."

"What?"  She sat forward, the lollipop in her hand.

"Jesus Christ Frankie!"

"What is it Jake?"  She plopped the sucker back between her lips and sat back on her knees next to Jake.

He was momentarily distracted by the sight of Frankie's knees spread apart for balance and a cherry red lollipop sucked between her lips.  "She... Frank.."

"Yeeessss?"

"Dated.  She was the Prom Queen, Frank was the Prom King."

Frankie said something that sounded like 'you are joking' around the lollipop as she leaned forward to look.  Jake blinked and turned his head just as she reached up and slowly pulled the sucker from her mouth.  He shivered slightly as she did, the image itself enticing him beyond the lack of bra and her bare legs.

Frankie leaned over, her breasts just brushing his shoulder as she did and she felt a tingle run through her body as she looked at the photograph of Frank and Nessa at the Senior Prom.  "This is unfucking believable!  You know what this means?  Frank is the thread!  I'll bet my PI's license that he dated Miss Illinois too and that whoever is doing this ..... oh my god..."

"Wha... huh?"  Jake's eyes were glued to the reddish lips that hovered mere inches from his.  They were slick and shiny from the sugary candy she'd been sucking faithfully.  The shiny round red hard lollipop hovered mere breaths from her lips and Jake found himself wishing that she were sucking something else instead of that lollipop.

"What is with you Jake?  Get a full stomach and your brain just turns to mush!  Listen to me!"  She shifted around and sat in front of him, the white stick held in her fingers.  "If this maniac is killing Frank's old lovers..."

"Jesus... that means Shay could be on his list too..."

"Bingo.  We got to call Frank and let him know."  Frankie reached for the hotel phone.

As she did, her shirt pulled open and Jake got a full glimpse of one of Frankie's breasts.  He stuttered and reached out, putting his hand over hers.

"What..?"  She looked back at him, only a breath from him...  Jake was leaning close over her, their bodies mere inches from one another. "Jake..."

Without warning, Jake's lips clamped down on hers, his hand pulling the sucker from her hand and tossing it onto the room service tray.  Frankie's eyes widened in shock for a moment then slid shut as she gave in.  He was actually kissing her... for the love of God he was kissing her!  She moaned slightly as she curled her hands around his shoulders and pulled him closer to her.  She felt his chest crush up against hers as he pushed her down under him on the bed.  Jake's hand pulled the scrunchie out of her hair, moaning softly as he felt the silky softness of it glide over his hand. With a gasp, he pulled her over on top of him, his hands gliding up and down her back.

"Jake..."

"Shh Francesca..." he murmured.  He slid his hands up under her shirt to cup her breasts, his thumbs massaging over her nipples gently.

Frankie groaned, her eyes sliding shut again as she rocked against his hips.  She could feel his hardness through his pants pressing against her inner core deliciously.  "We... should... the case..."

"To hell with the case Francesca..." he growled as he rolled her over under him again and sat up.  He quickly pulled his shirt off over his head. Frankie reached for the buttons on his jeans as he did so.  Jake pulled her hands away from his pants and pinned them down over her head as he leaned over her.  His mouth covered hers fiercely as his tongue pushed past her lips to stroke hers.

Deep inside her throat Frankie growled and wrapped her legs around his hips, pulling him snugly against her.  As she felt his erection pressed hard between her thighs, she arched her back with a gasping moan. "Jake....!" she whispered.

Just as Jake was about to rip her shirt open, his cell phone rang.

**********


	15. Phone Call X's Two

"Don't answer that Jake.. please!" she pleaded.  Her gray eyes were soft as she gazed up at him, her hands grasping his shoulders tightly.  She was begging him to finish what he'd started.  For years she'd dreamed about this and now his fucking cell phone was ringing.

"Francesca" he purred.  "I have to..."

His voice broke as he slid his hand down to the floor and fished for the phone.  Frankie nibbled his neck and chest as her fingers glided down his bare back towards the waist of his jeans.  "Shaw" he groaned out between pants of breath.  He gave Frankie a look that said to stop.  She just smiled and slid her fingers into his jeans to cup his buttocks with a squeeze.  Before he could stop himself, Jake groaned loudly into the phone again and pushed up off of Frankie. "Yeah Shay..."

Shay quirked a brow on the other end of the phone... he sounded out of breath.  "You okay there, Jake?  I didn't interrupt anything, did I?"

Jake gave Frankie an apologetic look as he sat down at the table near the window.  "No, you didn't interrupt anything.  I just had to run for the phone.."

"Listen... Frank finally spilled his guts.  Jake... he had a message from the killer in the form of a slide show.  It showed photos of the LeighAnne and Darinda.  They defy description."

"Why didn't he tell us, Shay?  That's evidence and he's smarter than that."

"Emotions rule the brain, babe.  He was definitely not in his right mind. There's something else..."

"Have a feeling I know.  He dated Nessa Skinner in High School.  Did he tell you that?"

Shay nodded as if Jake could see her.  "The beauty queen, too."

"Damn.  What is this guy trying to do? Wipe out everyone in Frank's life?"

Shay opened her mouth to respond, but didn't speak.  The thought that had been pricking the back of her brain surfaced again and she shuddered. Would he come after her?

"Shay?"

"Yeah, Jake?"

"Be careful."

"Will do.  Hurry back."

*********

Frankie sat up as Jake talked with Shay, pulling her shirt up over herself and wrapping it tight around her as she scooted up to the head of the bed. Nothing... Her eyes lowered to her hands as they twisted together.  Jake was brushing off their close encounter as nothing and lying about it to Shay.  Shay... SHE was on the phone and he'd rather talk to her...  With her shoulders sagging slightly Frankie reached for the phone and dialed Frank's office line.

"Forrester."

"Hey Cody."

"Hey yourself Frankie.  You OK?  You sound kind of.."

"I'm fine.  Put Frank on, I think we got something."  Frankie kept her voice low so as not to disturb Jake's conversation.  As she waited, she pulled her knees up under her chin and wrapped her free arm around her shins.  All of a sudden Frankie felt rather used...

"Francesca?"

"Hi Frank.  Look... about this case."

"I'm glad you called.  Are you all right?  You sound a bit defeated."

"I'm alright Frank.  It's just..." she sighed and looked back at Jake as he talked to Shay.  "Is there something you should have told me and Jake before we landed?  Like, say, dating Nessa Skinner in High School?"

There was silence on the other end of the phone.  "I'm sorry Frankie.  I should have told you.  You should also know that I dated Miss Carruthers for a while before she became Miss Illinois."

"Yes, you should have.  I hope you've told this to your wife."  She sighed a moment and then brought up the courage to tell him the rest.  "Frank, we got another problem and another piece of the puzzle.  One - the puzzle... I found something on the inside of Skinner's lips.  It looked like blood and I gave it to the coroner to run his testing on.  As soon as he finds something out, he's going to call me."

"Good work.  Maybe this killer got careless and left a part of himself behind."

"Which brings me to the problem."

"And that is?"

"Shay, your wife."

"Not again Francesca..."

"No... THINK!  If he's killed your high school sweetheart, Carruthers, and then Darinda.... Jake and I have a feeling that Shay might be on the list too!"

Again there was silence.  "Oh God Frankie." was all he said in a hushed whisper.  "Shay is on the phone with Jake right now.  Look, I want you two back here tomorrow with all the files and reports."

"All right Frank.  We'll see you back at your office.  And I know she and Jake are talking."  Her voice was bitter almost.  "She kind of interrupted..."

"Interrupted...?"

"Ah...  She... he.."

"Francesca?"  Frank was concerned now.  He caught the catch in her voice at the mention of Jake and Shay.  It wasn't possible.... was it?

"Never mind Frank, it's not that important.  Look, I'm gonna go.  Talk to Shay, let her know what we suspect and be real protective of her until we get back."  She hung up the phone and wrapped her other arm around her shins, hugging herself tight.

"Francesca?"  Jake had finished his phone call with Shay and walked over to Frankie.

"I think you'd better go Jake.  We've got to fly back to Chicago tomorrow; Frank wants us back.  I'm tired, I need some rest."

Jake stepped back and looked down.  Slowly he reached out to touch her hair.  "Francesca... please."

"Good Night Jake."

Jake sighed and picked up his shirt and leather jacket.  What did he do now? he thought as he closed her hotel room door behind him.

As he left, Frankie leaned over until she was curled up in the sheets and stared sobbing her heart out.  For one brief shining moment she thought that she'd finally gotten into Jake's heart... only to be pushed aside by work and Shay Donovan.  Suddenly she knew what Shay was feeling when she saw Frankie getting as close to Frank as she had been lately.

*************


	16. The Ride of Her Life

Frank cradled the phone and slowly looked up at Cody.  "Make yourself scarce," he whispered. 

Cody nodded.  He looked briefly between Frank and Shay; he could tell they both had received less than good news from Florida.  He mumbled something about needing to run an errand and left the building.

Looking across the room, he saw her standing at the railing that overlooked the storage room below.  She was deep in thought and didn't hear his approach.  A startled gasp escaped her when he wrapped his arms around her from behind and dipped his head to kiss her ear softly.

Shay sighed.  "Jake said something..." she turned within his embrace, tears formed and hung in the corners of her eyes.  "I won't lie, Frank...I'm not stupid enough to think this guy doesn't know about me and I'm scared witless."

He brushed a stray lock of her honey blonde hair from her cheek.  "Frankie said the same thing...to be protective of you.  Dear God," he moaned as he rested his chin on her head, "I can't lose you, Shay."

She nodded against his chest and fought back the tears.  "Shhh...I'm not going anywhere."  She wound her arms about his neck and pressed her lips to his hungrily.  She moaned her desire when their tongues met and twined together, teasing, exploring until they were forced to break away, breathless.

Fear, desperation, need...everything was raw on the surface...too close to the edge to ignore.  Still the thought of that maniac getting to her...taking her away from Frank and their kids crept back to the surface.  She needed to feel the love and desire of her husband again, more desperately than she had ever needed in the past.  She would not let the last possible time he loved her be tainted by his thoughts of those murders.  She needed him and she needed him now.

Reaching for his belt buckle, Shay unfastened his pants, easing the zipper down slowly.  Wrapping her supple fingers around his semi-aroused member, Shay stroked him gently at first, building the intensity as his breathing deepened and his passionate moans increased.

"Shay," he groaned as he palmed her breasts and teased the nipples with his thumbs through her clothing.  God, she was driving him out of his mind.  Cody could walk back in any moment, but he was beyond caring.  His thoughts would go no further than the feel of her body in his hands and the touch of her skin over his heated erection.

He growled suddenly, deeply and pulled a chair over.  He sat down with Shay facing him and straddling his legs.  His hands traveled the length of her bare legs, pushing her skirt upward while he nipped and nuzzled her breasts through her shirt and bra.  Reaching her thighs, his hands traveled inward to graze her moist center through her panties.   He eased the material to the side and guided her down onto his thick shaft.

Shay cried out softly as she slid down, taking him fully within her.  Holding onto his shoulders, her nails dug deep into his muscles as his hands grasped her by the hips.  She tossed her head back in unabashed delight as she rode him for all he was worth. 

Shay's head whipped forward, her hair cascading around them, her eyes shinning with the power of their lovemaking.  She dipped her head and ran her tongue over his lips, swollen by their kisses.  "Come with me," she whispered enticingly as she shuddered deeply.  

The feel of her tongue and the sound of her husky whisper was enough to cause him to do just that.  He moaned lowly and tossed his head back as he tensed with the exquisite pain of his release.

Shay collapsed against him and they held each other tightly for a few peaceful moments until reality crashed back around them.  Frank held her face gently in his hands and brushed away a tear that escaped.  Shay smiled softly and whispered, "To love you, as I love you, Frank Donovan...is worth any amount of risk.  I would be nothing without you."

"_Mon cadeau_," he whispered, touching his forehead to hers.  Never did he imagine loving anyone so much that his whole body, essence, ached with it.  He would die before he would let anyone hurt her.

Shay laughed softly and looked around the room.  "Shit, Donovan...Cody could have walked in at any moment."

Frank laughed along with her and grinned.  "Maybe he would have learned something.  But, just in case, we might want to...um..."

"Yeah," Shay agreed as she moved off of him.  "Exactly."  

**********

Yawning, he slammed the door as he slid from the Blazer and headed toward the scene.  He had decided to spend the night in the crib at the nest instead of going home.  It was well past midnight before he had finished his report and did not feel like making the long drive to the suburbs.  It was now three a.m.; a short twenty minutes after he received the call from Cody to meet the team at the newest crime scene.

As he walked toward the small motel room, he passed each of his team members who lowered their gazes as he walked by.  What was up with them?  Not even Frankie would look him in the eye.

He entered the room to see the forensic team dusting for prints.  The body lay covered on the bed.  He motioned for the coroner to lower the sheet.  He watched with detached emotions as the sheet was lowered inch by inch.  First revealed was the soft, honey-blonde hair that fanned the pillow.  Further lowered, the sheet revealed the smooth, cold skin of the woman's brow.  Something about the hairline looked familiar.  Then the eyes...so blue and opened wide in horror, they mocked him in is ineptness to keep her safe.  

"SHAAAAYYYYYY!!!!!!!" he screamed, falling to his knees.  His wife...his gift...gone...and he had been unable to protect her.

"Frank, Frank," someone whispered in his ear.  He shrugged them off, wanting nothing more than to disappear, never to have to deal with another emotion.  

"Frank, FRANK!"  He felt the slap on his cheek and turned to see Shay sitting beside him in their bed at home.  

"Shay," he croaked, agonized by the haunting nightmare.

"Babe, you were having a nightmare," she whispered, wiping the sweat from his brow.  "You scared me to death."  Shay thought she heard a sound escape his throat, something on the verge of a whimper as he wrapped his arms around her and buried his face against her breast.

Shushing him softly, she laid back on the pillows bringing him with her.  There they laid for the remainder of the night, clutched in each other's arms.

************


	17. Enough is Enough

Frankie was already packed and down in the lobby checking out by the time Jake made it out of the elevator.  He stood and watched her for a moment. She'd left her hair loose today and it looked like a lion's mane of black hair.  She was wearing her leather pants as she had yesterday, another pair of boots with steel heels and needle pointed toes and she had a short tank top on.  She looked like a rock star with the sunglasses, naval ring and hairstyle.  Jake was still curious as to what he'd done last night that Frankie pushed him away and out of her room.

With a sigh, he checked out of his room and they both got into the taxi to take them to the airport.  He noticed she had the briefcase with all the files and reports in it sitting next to her between them.  The box of evidence from Skinner's apartment was packaged up and in the trunk with their carry on bags.

"Frankie..."

"No, Jake.  I don't feel like talking.  I'm tired, I didn't get any sleep last night and I just want to get back to Chicago."

He noted the quiet tone of her voice and the near defeat in it.  What happened?  So, he resigned himself to watching the scenery go by in a blur. Even at the airport she didn't talk to him as she checked in, insured the box of evidence and got her boarding pass.  She walked away towards the security checkpoint without even looking back.

Frankie was so wrapped up in her thoughts and mental self-abuse about how stupid she was to have let herself believe that Jake could actually have felt something for her, that she wasn't paying attention to anything around her.  As the line filed through the security checkpoint, the only thing Frankie did was sigh and mentally hurry the line faster.

Jake smiled and apologized to the clerk behind the counter for Frankie's lack of pleasantness that morning.  Saying 'thank you', he took his boarding pass and turned towards the security entry just in time to hear the sirens go off and the local police screaming "FREEZE!"

"I'm a private investigator and I have a license for it!" Frankie shouted back.

"I don't give a damn lady!  Put your hands up and step out of the line!"

Jake ran over as some of the people were running away from the showdown. Frankie had her hands up at shoulder height; her tank top hitched up and revealed the tattoos on her belly and back as she sighed in annoyance. "Jake, tell this man I'm alright and not going to do anything like shoot him."

"Officer, it's OK.  I'm a Federal Agent.  Here, I'm reaching for my badge. This woman is a Private Investigator working on a case for the FBI."

"Is that right?  Then why did she walk into the metal detector with a gun on?"

"It's my back up piece, my standard is locked and in my carry on bag.  I didn't get any sleep last night and I guess I forgot about it, OK?!  Jesus Christ in a Ford pickup truck!"  Frankie snarled and propped her leg up on the x-ray machine to remove the snub-nosed pistol from her ankle.  As she did, she threw it at Jake and walked through the metal detector again.

When it went off a second time, Frankie snarled even louder and started kicking the machine.  "GODDAMNIT I HAVE HAD JUST ABOUT ENOUGH OF THIS!"

It took Jake and the security guards to pull her away from the machine before she broke it into a million pieces.  Jake pressed her face first against the wall until she calmed down.  Not once had her sunglasses moved from her face.  If they had, Jake and everyone would have seen that she was red-eyed and in tears.

"KNOCK IT OFF FRANCESCA!" he hissed in her ear.  "I'm going to go make nice with the local cop and get everything smoothed over.  What the hell has gotten into you this morning?!"

As Jake left her there under the watching and distrusting eyes of the checkpoint security, Frankie turned around and leaned her head back against the wall.  It wasn't what had gotten into her, it was what hadn't gotten into her.  After Jake had left last night, Frankie tossed and turned in bed, wishing she hadn't sent him away.  More than that, she was berating herself for believing that he could think of her as more than a friend.

When Jake came back, he'd gotten things eased with the officer and everything was just peachy.  He grabbed Frankie by the arm and yanked her towards the gate.  She immediately yanked her arm out of his grip and stalked off with her bag and the briefcase in hand.

The flight home was going to be interesting.  Thank God they weren't sitting next to one another.

**********

Halfway through the flight, Frankie got restless and picked up the in-flight phone.  After giving her credit card over to the machine and waiting for the approval 'beep', she finally got to dial Frank's cell phone.

Frank was leaning over the computer talking to Cody and Shay about something when his cell went off.  "Excuse me."

Shay and Cody watched as he stepped off to the side and answered. "Donovan."

"Next fucking time you come into my life I swear to GOD I'm going to shoot you on the spot!" hissed the voice.

"Ahh... Francesca.  Good Morning to you too."  He turned and looked at Shay.

"Fuck off Frank."

"What happened?  Are you alright?"

"Does it sound like I'm alright?"

"Last time you told me to fuck off is when Eric ran away."

"And I had good reason to then.  Look, next time you decide to come into my life, try not to fuck it up!" she hissed again.  "Granted, I accepted this offer to find the man who killed Dari.  But I didn't count on your she-bitch wife being jealous of me and I sure as hell didn't count on Jake letting me fall flat on my ass.  We're arriving into O'Hare at 10:30 on flight 1534.  Have someone meet us there."

"What did Jake do?!"  Frank looked blankly at Shay.  Shay's eyes widened and her conversation with Jake from last night came back to her mind.

Frankie was silent for a moment as her eyes hidden behind the black lenses of her sunglasses found Jake sitting about five rows up and on the other side of the plane.  "Never mind Frank." she whispered.  "It's nothing.  When we get back, I'll hand everything over and I'm off this case."

"Francesca, don't."

"No Frank.  It's better if I'm off and out of the way.  It sounds like you've confided in Shay, that's good, glad I could help with that.  I'll see you in a few hours."  She hung up the phone quietly.

Frank stared at his cell phone for a moment.  "Francesca's pulled herself off the case.  She said something about getting out of the way, Jake letting her fall flat on her face and you being jealous of her.  Shay, you talked to Jake last night, do you know something I don't?"

She blinked hard.  "Jake didn't say much other than they had discovered you and Nessa dated.  But..."

Frank approached her, standing nearly on top of her.  "But?"

"If you get any closer, Agent Donovan, you'll be wearing my pantyhose," she replied, irritated.  What was it about Frankie that he would get so defensive?  Knock it off, Shay...it's time to bury the hatchet.  As long as Frankie didn't try to bury it in her skull.  "Look...it's just that when he answered the phone, he was breathless and a bit distracted."

Donovan ran a hand through his hair.  "Well, something is up...and what the hell happened between you and Frankie for her to think of you as a she-bitch?"

Shay laughed then.  "How fate does twist the knife, eh, Frankie?"   When Frank looked at her like she was insane, she said, "I swear Frank, it wasn't that bad.  We had a little talk; I accused her of coming on to you."  She shrugged.  "I know I was wrong, but you have to admit...she is a little overly in the touchy-feely department."  

Frank didn't reply, but a smile tugged at the corner of his mouth.  

"As for being a she-bitch...well, my dear Boss Man...you've been around when she and I have been together, except for the morning Jake decked you.  I think we were evenly arctic to each other."

"Yeah...well, we need to get this straightened out.  You and I have a flight to meet."

**********


	18. Buck up, Frankie

Donovan glanced up at the monitor.  Flight 1534...on time.    Noise from the doorway caught his attention; the passengers were beginning to disembark.  He and Shay leaned against the far wall waiting for Jake and Frankie to appear.  

Shay pointed to the doorway when she saw Jake first, then Frankie trailing a short distance behind him.  Shay cocked her head sideways slightly...Frankie looked different somehow.  She pushed off the wall and headed for the brunette.  No way was Frankie Battles going to blame her for ditching Frank and this case.

Frankie glanced up in time to see Shay approach her; Frank along side his wife.  She grasped the briefcase in both hands and tossed it tersely at Frank who caught it with a decisive "Oomph".  

Shay took Frankie by the arm and pulled her off to the side.  Surprisingly, Frankie didn't put up a struggle.  "This has got to stop...whatever our problem is, Francesca Battles...do NOT take it out on Frank.  If there was a time in his life that he's ever needed a friend, it's right now."

Frankie shrugged Shay's hand off her arm.  "Cool it, Donovan...I don't feel like talking about it right now."  Her voice was quiet, not quite defeated but sounded well used.  

Frankie removed her sunglasses and Shay caught sight of her weary and bloodshot eyes.  "Sweet Jesus, Frankie...what's going on?"  Frankie didn't answer; she just stared at Shay.  "Look...for a she-bitch...I'm a pretty good listener."

Frankie managed a small smile before she shook her head.  "Not yet, Donovan...not yet."

Shay nodded.  "Okay, Battles," she said with a chuckle, "but you're not getting out of this sitch this easily.  My husband needs your help and I'll be damned if you'll back out on him now."

Frankie gave Shay a half-hearted look and walked over to speak to Frank, who waited patiently nearby.

Shay followed.  "Frank, where's Jake?"  

He nodded toward the baggage area.  "He went to pick up the box that had to be checked."

Without a word, Shay went in search of Jake and found him standing at the baggage carousel still waiting for the luggage to be put through.  "Jacob Aaron Shaw!"

Jake's spine stiffened just as it did when Father Michael was calling him on the carpet when he was a boy.  He could hear the "man, are you in trouble" attitude in Shay's voice.  He shook his head...that was a voice usually reserved for LJ...or Cody when he got on her nerves.

"And, hello to you too, hon," Jake responded.

"What did you do, Jake?"

"Do?  I went to Florida and found out your husband was Prom King in high school," he joked halfheartedly.

"I'm talking about Frankie, Jacob Aaron.  She looks like death warmed over, for crissake."  She watched as his expression turned from playful to perplexed.

"Honestly, Shay...I don't know what is going on with her.  One minute we're connecting...the next she's pushing me away," he explained.  He jumped, startled when the siren announced the dispensing of the luggage from his flight.  

She grabbed him by the arms and gave him a good shake.  Passersby looked upon the couple with amusement.  "Jake...I'm not just some airhead that fell off the Goodyear blimp...I've seen the way you look at her and the way your voice changes when you talk about her.  What happened while you were in Florida?" Shay demanded.  "Look, whatever it is, she's threatening to pull out of the case...and dammit...we need her."  

"I...I didn't know it had gone that far," he stammered.  "Look...last night when you called...we were kinda...um..."  His face turned several shades of red while Shay chuckled.

"Oh dear, Lord.  And let me guess...instead of ignoring the stupid phone, you pushed her away."  Shay shook her head in astonishment.  "Men's stupidity never ceases to amaze me."

"Shay...dammit...I didn't do anything wrong," he insisted.

"No...nor did you do anything right," she replied with a grin.  "So...drag your happy ass up those stairs...find her and tell her how you feel about her."

Automatically, without thinking, he turned and started toward the exit as ordered.  He stopped quickly and turned back to Shay.  He stooped down and grabbed the box of evidence and files that had finally come around on the carousel.  "How can I tell her something I'm not sure about?"

Shay smiled and touched a hand to his cheek.  "That's easy, babe.  Just look into those pretty gray eyes and you'll know exactly what to say."  She leaned in and kissed his cheek.  "Find that little piece of heaven we all need and deserve.  I love you, Jake, and if Francesca Battles can be that piece of heaven for you...then, don't let her go."

Jake nodded and as Shay took his arm, they went in search of Frank and Frankie.

************

As Shay disappeared down to talk to Jake, Frankie watched silently.

"What's wrong Francesca?" Frank asked quietly.

"Don't.... Don't call me Francesca..." her voice shook a moment.

Frank recognized that little vocal shake and sighed.  A moment later he had his arms around her shoulders and she was sobbing quietly on his shoulder.

"I thought... for one moment I really thought that it could happen.  But it didn't.  It's nothing he says.  How stupid of me to think..." she snuffled and shut up.

Frank put two and two together and came up with Jake.  When he'd talked to Frankie last night, she'd said that she knew Shay and Jake were talking and that Shay's call had interrupted something.  But, until yesterday, he'd been blind to Jake and Frankie's situation.  In retrospect, however, he could see the way Jake talked about her, the way he looked at her, and she... he could see it all.  His heart broke to think that something had gone wrong between the two of them.  Maybe he and Shay could help them put it back together when this case was over.

Frankie was glad that he didn't press her for more details.  But, she shook her head and stepped back, pushing her sunglasses up just enough to wipe her eyes.  Thankfully she didn't have any make-up on to begin with or she would have looked like a raccoon by now.

"Francesca -"  He saw Frankie stiffen at the name.  Apparently Jake had taken to calling her Francesca and it bothered her.  "Frankie.  We need you on this case.  You've got the background and outside the box thinking we need.  Please, don't walk away from this because Jake got stupid."

She looked up sharply.  "Is it that obvious?"

"Yes Frankie, it is.  I've seen the way he looks at you and you at him. Give him a break... this isn't something he knows how to handle quite yet. Buck up, here comes Jake and Shay."

**********


	19. More Bad News

The drive back to the nest was quiet and tense.   When Frank's cell phone rang, each one of them jumped slightly.  "Donovan."

"They found another victim, Frank.  Hotel Capri.  I'm on my way and will meet you there," Cody informed him.

Frank tossed his phone into the small cubby of the Blazer with force. Hearing the crack of plastic against plastic, he had no doubt he would need to replace that phone.

"Frank!  What is it?" Shay asked, startled.

"Another one... another victim.  Cody's meeting us there."

Reaching across the span between driver and passenger seats, Shay laid a gentle hand on his arm.  He lifted his left hand from the steering wheel, covered hers and gave it a light squeeze.

Jake looked over at Frankie, who was staring out of the window watching the scenery go by.  "Francesca."

"No Jake."

"Talk to me, please?" he whispered.

"I don't feel like talking."

Jake sighed softly and looked at Shay.  She looked back at him and gave him an encouraging smile.  Frank looked back in the rear view mirror at Frankie.  Briefly he saw the glimmer of a tear skating down her cheek before she wiped it off.  If she didn't straighten up and talk to Jake, he might have to lock her into a room with him and not let them come out until they made up, killed one another - or the screams died down to a purring rumble...

"What's wrong Frankie?" Jake whispered.

Frankie blinked, and then turned her head oh so slowly to face him.  Over the top edge of her sunglasses, Shay and Frank both could see her forehead wrinkle.  Both of them could only guess that her eyes were narrowing in a deadly stare.

"Nothing, JAKE." she hissed.  "It's just nothing.  I should think you'd know that."  She turned and looked back out of the window.

Frank winced as Jake's mouth fell open.  Damn she was mad now.  She'd gotten over her hurt and was well on the road to being pissed off.  For a moment he felt sorry for Jake.  Then he remembered what Shay had told him while Frankie was in the ladies room and Jake was putting the bags in the car.  Now Frank didn't feel sorry.  Jake was getting what he deserved.  If he did something that dumb, then he deserved to be abused for it.

And if she hadn't gotten it out of her system in a day or two, then Frank decided he'd pull her aside later and talk her into forgiving Jake.

************

Pulling into the motel parking lot was like trying to butt into line at Disney World.  Police vehicles lined the parking lot; yellow barrier tape surrounded the immediate area of the hotel room.  Solemnly, the four teammates made their way into the room.

The first thing that was noticeable was the blood; so much blood.  The Coroner had covered the body with a sheet, but it could not hide the blood that had run off the bed to pool on the carpet underneath.  

Both Frankie and Shay said, "He killed her here."  

Frank moved closer to the bed and nodded to the Coroner, who pulled the sheet back from the victim's body.  Frank involuntarily closed his eyes when he saw who the woman was.  He heard the gasp of horror behind him and without looking, pulled his wife into his embrace.

Shay uncharacteristically turned away from the body and buried her face against Frank's chest and sobbed quietly.  He stroked her hair and whispered soft words of comfort until she quieted.  He looked up to see Jake, Cody and Frankie questioning him with their eyes.  

"Aunt Mary," Frank said quietly as Shay pulled away slightly to wipe away her tears.  "Shay and the kids visited her a few times a month.  I went when I could."

"I'm sorry...I just can't do this," she admitted, turning away from the bed and started to leave the room.

Cody pulled Shay aside before she could leave and handed her a file jacket.

"What's this?"

"It's what you asked me for yesterday morning.  Frankie Battle's profile. Everything that's in there is non-privileged information."

"NON-Privileged?"

"Yeah.  Part of the deal Frank made to get her an unconditional acceptance to the Academy and as a thank you for helping put Cyrus Morhoff behind bars was the sealing and expunging of her juvie record.  However, I did manage to see them before, so I put in my own two cents worth."

"Thanks Cody.  But I think I'll forgo reading it.  If Frank and Jake trust her-"

"And me... and Alex... and Monica too, Shay.  She's a good woman.  Read it. You might find something about her that you like."

"So everyone keeps telling me.  Alright, I'll read it."  

Frank watched with horror as his Aunt's body was bagged for transport to the morgue.  He heard Frankie note that the killer had changed his MO.  The same respect and love could still be detected in the careful way he posed the body, but the fact that he had left her fully clothed showed his love was different for this one.  As she and Jake continued to process the scene, he went to check on his wife.

Shay opened the file and leaned against the door while skimming over it.  "Francesca Battles, born October 31, 1970... she's a year younger than Frank.. interesting... Father was Captain William Battles of Chicago PD, mother is Ellen Battles.  Until the time of her husband's death, Ellen Battles was a criminal behaviorist.  That's why Frankie's on the case... she knows the way things go.  Interesting... Brother Eric Battles, deceased, a rookie with Chicago PD until an accident on duty landed him with a 10-year-old mind after he was shot in the head.  Hmm.."

She flipped the pages in the file until she came to something that caught her eye.  "Oh ho... Franesca Battles wasn't investigating Morhoff himself... she stumbled on the information and turned it in... Father wound up killed, mother with a broken neck and paralyzed from the shoulders down... blamed Frankie for the whole thing.  Poor girl... later the brother was found in a warehouse down on the lakefront with a single shot to the head.  Frankie took care of him; mother blamed her for Eric's accident as well.  Word came from Burkholtz that Frankie Battles needed to be pulled out.  Morhoff was the end target and Battles was extra gravy... interesting... why would Burkholtz be interested in Battles?"  She kept reading... "A shoot out at the warehouse... Eric Battles later threw himself in front of a bullet from Morhoff who wrested Jake's gun.. oh shit... meant for Frankie..." She stopped and looked up at Frankie and Jake.

"Eric died in her arms."

Shay spun around to see Frank standing behind her with a sad look on his face.  "None of us could believe it.  The boy moved faster than we gave him credit for.  To this day, the 21-gun salute and the sound of TAPS on the bugle just sends her into tears.  Why did you ask Cody for her background?"

"At first it was for even ground, so I would know who I was working with. Now..."

"Now you feel sorry for her?  Don't.  She's a tough woman.  A lot of shit's happened to her.  What that file won't tell you is about the inner Frankie. The one who only tried to do the right thing and got slapped for it several times.  The last time she did the right thing her mother disowned her at Eric's funeral as if she were to blame."

"Jake told me about the letter from Burkholtz.  She turned it down without even blinking."

"Yes.  She did.  And I think I'm glad she did.  She never would have fit in there.  Frankie is better off as she is, living the way she is.  She's a free spirit."  He winked and wrapped his arms around her, hugging her tight.

Shay relaxed in his embrace for a moment.  "C'mon Tiger.  We better go help them."

"You go with the body to the Coroner's, I"ll help with the evidence."  He kissed her forehead as she turned to go.  "Hey, Shay..."

"Yeah, Tiger?"

"You remind me a lot of her... Be careful and don't go anywhere without telling someone, OK?"

************


	20. Abducted

Sitting in the medical examiner's office, Shay tapped the pen on the clipboard given to her with the form to complete identifying the deceased.   Jesus, she did not want to do this, but finally set her mind toward the task and completed the form.

She tossed the clipboard onto the desk and dialed Frank's cell.  She let it ring a few times before she remembered it was still in the Blazer where he tossed it.  Shrugging, she dialed Cody.

"Forrester."

"Hey, Code-man."

"Hey, Shay...how're you holdin' up?"

She wiped a tear from her cheek before replying.  "Not too good...I need to see my kids somethin' awful.  Hey, is Donovan anywhere nearby?  His phone's in the Blazer."

"Yeah, hang on.  And, Shay..."

"Yeah, Cody?"

"We love you, too, you know."

Shay smiled knowingly.  "Thanks, Cody...you don't know how much I needed to hear that; especially right now."

"Hey, baby," Frank said smoothly.

"Hey yourself, Big Guy.  Listen...there's nothing more I can do here...do you mind if I call a taxi and run by Dad's and see LJ and Ariel?  I could really do with some unconditional love right about now." 

"Sure, go ahead.  We'll swing by and pick you up."  

"Thanks....Tiger?"

"Hmmm?"  

Shay headed out of the morgue to the upper levels of the building.  "I'm so sorry about your aunt.  I wish we were normal people so I could just be there for you and comfort you."

"I wish that, too, Shay.  And when this is over...remind me to take you on a vacation so we can do just that.  Kiss the kids for me...I love you, baby."

"I love you, Tiger."  

Outside the hospital, Shay stood on the curb to flag down a taxi when she suddenly felt something jabbed into her stomach.  She barely had the chance to look down to see the taser gun before it went off.  The painful shudder from the electrical current ripped through her just before the blackness of unconsciousness sent her into oblivion.

**********


	21. Nightmare Becomes Reality

Pulling the Blazer into his father-in-law's driveway, Frank glanced into the rearview mirror.  Frankie was still uncharacteristically quiet, and Jake...well, Jake was just plain confused.  "I'll just be a minute, but if you want to see your godchildren, hurry it up, Jake.  Frankie?"

Frankie kind of scowled at him for a moment, but she shrugged and slid out. "All right, all right... I'll go in and play nice..." It nearly proved her undoing however, as she followed Jake in. The sight of his rear-end in those jeans set her insides on fire again and despite her decision to remain cold to him, she whimpered softly in her throat.****

Jake and Frankie joined Frank at the front door just as he pushed opened the door.  "Shay?! Let's go...we've got a lot of work to do!"

"We're in here, Frank!" Thomas yelled from the family room.

Frank led them to the back of the house to the cozy family room.  Thomas met them in the doorway; he was holding Ariel in his arms.  LJ was on the floor playing with his building blocks.  Sweeping past him, Frank looked around the room quickly.  "Where's Shay?"

"Uncew Jake!" LJ cried and ran to hug his leg.  Jake reached down and swung him up into his arms and proceeded to tickle LJ's belly until he giggled madly.

_Jesus Christ in a ford pick up truck_, Frankie groaned inwardly. _He looks so perfect with that little boy._**__**

Thomas was distracted by Frank's question and instinctively handed Ariel to the only female in the room.  Frankie looked a bit surprised to be suddenly holding the infant.  Ariel's large brown eyes twinkled as she smiled happily up at Frankie.

She'd wanted kids. But no one else knew that little secret. She didn't even know how to 'hold' kids this small. Frankie stared down at the baby girl in her arms. So like her father...****

Jake looked over to see Frankie holding Ariel. She looked like a natural. If it weren't for the fact that he knew who the parents were, you could swear that the girl was Frankie's. As he tickled LJ, he had a brief mental flash of Frankie holding their child.****

"What do you mean, 'where's Shay'?" Thomas asked, concerned.  "She's with you."

Frank was growing anxious now.  "No...she called from the morgue.  She was taking a taxi here to see the kids."  He walked to the mantle and absently picked up a photograph closest to him.  It was of he and Shay on their wedding day.  He ran his finger down her picture.  She had insisted on keeping the wedding small and informal.  He wore his best black suit and she wore a simple off-white suit-dress and she swore it was the one of the happiest days of her life--the birth of her son, being the other.  

"Snap out of it, Donovan," Frankie ordered, taking the photo from his hand and placing it gently on the mantle.  She placed Ariel in his arms and dug out her cell phone.   She dialed Shay's number and let it ring until it was answered with a tentative, "Hello?"

"Who is this?" Frankie demanded from the male voice that answered Shay's cell. 

"Officer Richards, CPD."

"Where did you get that phone?" She watched Frank's head whip up to stare at her.

"Ma'am...it was found at the scene of an abduction.  The desk clerk at the county morgue saw a woman taken by force and tossed into the back of a van.  The phone was found on the curb.  As a matter of fact, I was about to run a check on the number when you called."

"Shay Donovan," Frankie whispered.  "Her name is Shay Donovan, she's an agent for the Justice Department.  Did you get a description...anything on her abductor?"

Abductor.  Frank hugged his daughter and buried his face against her little body.  He was now living out his nightmare.  All that was left was to pull back the sheet and find her lying underneath instead of the other faces of the victims that flashed through his mind.

Jake crossed the room and placed a hand on Frank's shoulder.  When he looked up, Jake saw the tears he was fighting to hide.  "We'll find her, Frank."  He looked from LJ to Ariel, reaching out to touch the little girl's cheek.  "We have to."

Frankie ended the call, shaking her head.  "Nothing.  They've got nothing.  Tall, dark hair.  That's all the desk clerk saw.  No license plate...blue van.  That's it."

Frank's shoulders slumped visibly as he walked over to his father-in-law and gave the baby over to him.  He moved to leave the room; he had no idea what to say to Thomas.  His wife ...Thomas' daughter was missing.  No words could make it right.

"Frank," Thomas called after him, stopping Frank before he could leave the room.  Frank turned slowly to face Shay's father.  "You'll find her, Frank.  Believe that.  Shay would never doubt you, so don't you start."

Frank nodded and left without replying.

Frankie looked at Jake and then started to follow. She stopped and turned back. "Mr. Renquist. I know that your daughter and I got off to a bad start... but we'll get her back. I owe Frank my life and a deep debt. This is where I pay it back."

************


	22. The Dreaded Call

Laying her out on the small bed, he tied her wrists and ankles to the bedposts.  He traced the outline of the bruise on one of her wrists as he *tsk,tsk'd* wondering just how she had obtained the bruises.  He spoke softly to her, whispering words of endearment as he arranged her hair lovingly on the pillow on which her head reposed.  

Slowly, very slowly, he slid the knife's blade flat along the length of her body.  Oh, how he had adored her from afar and the thought of finally possessing her body caused him to quiver and grow hard at the thought of thrusting into her.  But that had to wait...he needed her to be awake.  She needed to know how much he loved her.

At the same time, the need to punish _him_...the other one...was unyielding.  Oh, yes.  Frank Donovan would experience the ultimate suffering...no longer would he possess such a wondrous gift.

He moved away from her to the telephone on the stand by the bed and dialed the number very few civilians knew.  He covered the mouthpiece with a handkerchief to muffle his voice as the phone on the other end rang. 

"Forrester."

"Gimme Donovan," he demanded.

"Is there something I can help you with?" Cody asked, screening the call.  He had learned of Shay's abduction when the team had made it back to the nest.  Frank sat at the conference table with Frankie while Jake paced back and forth in frustration.

"Dammit, I said gimme Donovan!" he shouted.  "Unless, of course, you'd like me to take care of his wife right at this very moment?!"

Cody gasped.  "Frank..." Cody called as he muted the phone.  "It's _him_."

Cody began running the trace while Frank, Jake and Frankie approached the console.  

"Donovan."  To the untrained ear, his voice exuded his normal confidence.  To the people who occupied the room with him, the sound of a defeated man could be heard.

"I know you're tracing this call...and I'm letting you...because I don't want her to be alone for too long after I leave her."

"Don't...Listen, I know you have something against me; don't take it out on Shay.  Don't take her away from her children.  Take me instead," he pleaded, almost calmly.  

He laughed manically.  "Don't worry, Frank...you'll join her soon enough."

Donovan stared at the phone as the line blared its dead signal.  "Did you get the trace?"

"Yes," Cody answered in a hushed whisper.  "The Motel Essex..." he trailed off as Donovan's eyes widened.  "Wha...what?"

"Good God...no...it just...no..." he trailed off.  He checked the guns in his shoulder holster as he ran for the door.

"Frank!" Jake yelled trying to get his attention.  Frank didn't stop and Jake turned back to Cody.  "Let's go..."  He grabbed Frankie by the arm and they headed out the door in time to see Frank's Blazer peeling out into the midst of the early evening traffic. 

They piled into Cody's jeep with Jake cursing loudly.  "What the hell is he thinking?"

"Thinking?" Cody said, flooring the jeep and jumping into the flow of traffic.  "No thinking...feeling."

Frankie nodded in agreement.

Jake shook his head.  "What did Shay say? 'Emotions rule the brain, babe'.  She sure knows her husband."

************


	23. Frank's Revelation

Shay awoke disoriented and in unfamiliar surroundings.  She tried to bring a hand to rub her aching head but it would not obey her command.  She turned her head slightly...tied to the bedpost.  The memory of being hit by the taser returned and she glanced around the room, but didn't see anyone in the dark room.  A noise coming through the wall behind the bed caught her attention and she saw movement from the corner of her eye.  

She heard the flick of a light switch and closed her eyes at the sudden invasion of light.  Opening her eyelids slightly she could see a figure approaching the bed and as he got closer Shay's eyes widened with recognition.

"Ta-Tony?" Shay whispered unbelievingly.  

---

Speeding in and out of traffic, Frank headed for the motel.  Jesus, he hoped he was wrong, but when Cody mentioned the name of the motel...it was owned by his aunt and ran by his cousin, Tony Jarrett.  

Tony...they had been like brothers growing up.  Frank's father was in the military and they moved from Air Force base to Air Force base when the transfer orders warranted.  His earlier childhood was spent in the Middle East when his father was stationed there, and when they returned to the United States, they were stationed at Elgin Air Force Base near Valparaiso, Florida.  That is when he and Tony had formed more of a family bond.

Why...why would Tony be doing this?  

_That's not so hard to figure out, Donovan, just think about it!_ the little voice in the back of his head screamed.  Nessa...Nessa was the beginning.  Shay will be the end.  Tony had caught them—the evening of the Prom.  Aunt Mary owned a motel in Valparaiso and Frank had taken the keys to an unoccupied room in the nearly deserted part of the motel.  He was no different than any normal teenage boy whose mind did not travel far from urge to feed the monster between his legs...and Nessa was going to be his first.  

At the time, he had not known Tony had a major crush on Nessa, but when he stormed into the room while he and Nessa were getting 'down and dirty', as Shay would say, Frank soon found out how his cousin felt about the Prom Queen.  From that point on, he and Tony had grown apart...Tony had never forgiven him for "stealing" the girl he loved.

Now, if he was right, Tony had Shay.  He knew Tony had a thing for Shay; he had never really tried to hide it.  Shay had told him he was being silly and reading far too much into the hugs and touches that his cousin gave his wife.  That was part of the reason Frank did not go along with Shay to see his aunt as often as he should have.  The last time, he had been on the verge of ripping Tony a new one before Shay had pulled him aside and begged him to calm down.

He took a right turn, tires squealing into the parking lot of the motel and headed for the rear building.  If his hunch paid off, he would find them in room 822...the same room number that Tony had found him with Nessa.  

___

"Shhhh," he insisted, placing his forefinger over her lips.  "Yes, it's me."  He leaned over and clamped his lips down on hers.

Shay struggled but made little movement with her hands and feet bound tightly to the bed and she could feel the ropes digging into her skin.  The feel of his mouth and tongue on her closed lips caused her stomach to churn in revulsion.  When he managed to push his tongue into her mouth she bit down hard causing him to cry out and pull away from her.

"Damn you, Shay...you will love me!" He screamed and brought the knife into view.

"Never!" she screamed back at him even as the sight of the knife caused her skin to crawl with fear.  "No matter what you do...I will NEVER love you."

"How can you say that...you know you love me...it will always be me," he insisted softly while slicing her blouse down the front and ripping it open before moving down to slice her skirt down it's length and toss it open.  His eyes gazed heatedly down her body, nearly nude in her skimpy bra and panties.

"Frank," she whispered through her terror of the thought of another man touching her.  "Frank is the only man I have EVER loved."  

He backhanded her across the face, splitting her cheek open just below her eye.  "Don't say that.  He doesn't know what love is...he only knows how to cause pain."

"No," she whispered.  "He knows love intense and everlasting.  Love that's pure and unassuming."  

  
"SHUT UP!" Tony screamed.  He reached for the duct tape beside the bed.  He had hoped she would be different; would know just how much he loved her and she loved him, but he could not listen to her lies any longer.


	24. Confrontation

Running toward the door at top speed, he slammed his shoulder into it and heard the lock split the doorframe as it gave under the pressure and he crashed into the room, colliding with the person who stood beside the bed, knocking the knife from his hand while the two of them thudded to the floor.  Out of the corner of his eye, he saw his wife lying still on the bed.

"Frank!" he heard her cry.  _Dear God...she was alive!_ his brain registered just before he felt the fist that slammed into his right temple.  Stars exploded in his head and his vision blurred momentarily, giving his adversary the advantage.  He cursed himself when he felt his guns pulled from his holster.  

"GET UP!" Tony ordered in disgust.  

Frank stood slowly, his vision starting to clear.  He looked down at Shay, his eyes telling her silently how much he loved her and how sorry he was for getting her into such a predicament.  Her eyes told him of her love.  At least they were together.

"God, Tony...how could you do these things?  You killed your own mother!" 

"Shut up, Frank!  My whole life was shadowed by yours.  All I ever heard was what a great son you were and how proud your parents were...from my own damn mother, no less!"  Tony ranted.  "Every. Time. I. Turned. Around....Frank did this...or Frank was doing that."

"Tony...please...it wasn't Frank's fault."  

He looked down at her as she spoke.  She was about to die and still she wanted to defend her husband.  "It was his fault."  He raised the gun level with Frank's chest.

---

"There, there! There's his Blazer," Jake yelled.

"I see, I see!" Cody retorted.  "Dammit, I'm not blind!"  He brought the Jeep to a halt beside the Blazer and the three occupants piled out of the jeep, guns drawn.

"Jake...you and Cody go right...I'll go left," Frankie ordered without a thought.  

"We shouldn't split up," Jake insisted.

Frankie did not wait around to argue.  She called back quietly, "No time, Jake...go!"  Without looking, she knew Jake and Cody had taken off in the opposite direction in search of Frank and praying, as she did, they would find Shay in time.

Turning the corner of the building, Frankie saw the open door and could hear the raised voices from within.  Sliding up to the door quietly, she peaked into the room to see a man holding a gun leveled at Frank's chest.  She edged closer, ready to make a move when she heard the man say, "And before I kill him, he will know the agony of your death."  

There was no hesitation, no thinking.  Frankie launched herself into the room just as the gun went off.  She dove headlong at Shay and landed full force on top of her.

Tony stared wide-eyed at the invasion.  That was all the time Frank needed.  He kicked the gun from Tony's hand and then delivered a backspin kick to his cousin's chest.  Tony landed unconscious against the far wall.

Shay gasped for breath after Frankie landed on her chest, knocking the air from her lungs.  She turned her head slightly to the right, meeting Frankie's gray eyes.  They registered pain and perhaps...regret.  She whispered Frankie's name, but Frankie only coughed, spattering blood on Shay's shoulder and face.  Tears slid down Shay's face as Frankie slowly closed her eyes.

---

Hearing the gunshot, Jake and Cody headed in the direction of the sound.  Entering the room, they found Shay cradling Frankie in her arms, keeping pressure on her wound and Frank on the phone demanding an ambulance and EMTs.  

Jake holstered his gun and knelt by the bed.  He looked from Frankie's unconscious face to Shay's tear soaked face.  He gently took Frankie's hand in his and brought it to his lips.

Shay placed her free hand gently on Jake's cheek.  "She...she saved my life, Jake.  I'm so...so very sorry." 

Jake shook his head softly as he stroked Frankie's hair.  He leaned down and placed his cheek against hers and whispered, "Don't leave me, Francesca," before he was overtaken with gut wrenching sobs. 

************


	25. Hanging in the Balance

"I'm fine," she whispered to Frank but her eyes were focused on Jake, who sat on the opposite side of the waiting room with Cody.  

Frank cupped Shay's chin and forced her to look at him.  "You've been through a lot, Shay.  It wouldn't hurt to get the once over from a doctor."

Shay looked down at herself thinking she must look a sight to most people.  She wore only one of Frank's dress shirts that he happened to have in the Blazer.  It covered her better than some of her dresses; still she was sure it looked odd.  Looking back up into the intense gaze of her husband, she was overcome by her emotions and tossed her arms around his neck and hugged him fiercely.  

"Shay?"

"Tiger...we almost lost each other tonight...and now...Frankie's fighting for her life as we speak."

"I know," he replied, stroking her hair lovingly.  "I think I died a little when that gun went off...and when Frankie took that bullet for you...I..." a soft sob escaped him and he clung to her...his lifeline.  This was one debt he would never be able to repay Frankie; although he would damn well try, if only she would recover.

Finally, after receiving word that Frankie was out of surgery they could visit her for a few moments Frank, Shay, Cody and Jake looked into the Recovery room in silence. Frankie was listed in critical condition.  All the tubes and hoses linking her to the life support, the respirator and the IV drip looked antiseptic, like this was a bad nightmare.

"She needs her rest Gentlemen, and Lady.  Please, come back tomorrow and we'll see if she's better."

"What happened..." Jake asked softly after Frank and Shay stepped away from the quiet conversation they were having with the surgeon.  Up 'til now, he had not the strength to listen to any details of how Francesca was wounded.

Frank put his hand on Jake's shoulder.  "She took a bullet in the back meant for Shay.  Saved Shay's life.  However, it collapsed her lung, bounced around and did a lot of damage.  Jake.."

Jake turned and looked at Frank.  "What?"  When Frank didn't answer, he pressed Shay.  "WHAT?!"

"Quiet Please!" the nurse whispered.

"She died twice on the table, babe." Shay finally spoke up.  "They had to shock her back to life.  The surgeons didn't expect her to live through the surgery."

Jake turned back to the sight of Francesca's body on the bed.  She died twice and he didn't even know it.  "I want to stay."

"Jake, go home.  It's 3 in the morning and you've been knocked around quite badly."

"No Frank.  I'm going to stay.  I want to be here when she wakes up."

"IF she wakes up Jake.  The doctors aren't sure if she'll come out of her coma."

Jake turned to Shay, tears shining on his cheeks.  "She's a fighter, Shay. She's too damned stubborn to just lay down and die."

Shay laid a hand on his cheek and smiled.  "All right Jake.  We'll come by later and check on you both."

--

A week later Frankie's condition was upgraded to stable and she was moved to her own room.  Jake had stayed faithfully with her, only going home long enough to change clothes and shower under Frank's orders.

"I'm sorry Francesca." he whispered.  He leaned over the edge of the bed and held her limp hand in his.  He'd sat beside her bed for days, waiting for the moment to get it all off his chest.  The nurses smiled kindly at him as they came and went.  The doctor had suggested he talk to her, that perhaps the sound of his voice would bring her around eventually.  "For everything."

A high-pitched beeping sounded off next to him on the respirator, causing him to jump out of his chair.  The nurse came in and shut off a switch.

"What's that?"

"Her respiration is coming around on it's own.  That's a good sign Agent Shaw.  I'm going to go get the doctor.  Maybe we can get that tube out of her today."  She smiled and left the room.

An hour later found Jake back in his seat next to Frankie, the trachea tube removed.  All that was left of machinery was the IV, heart monitors and the oxygen tube that rested right under her nose.

"Wake up Francesca.  Baby, please.  I need you to know something."  He paused, looking at her pale hand in his.  "I was stupid to say what I did in Florida.  When Shay called, I didn't know how to explain it and that was the first thing that came out of my mouth.  I never meant to hurt you or make you feel like I didn't care for you.  It took Shay setting me right..." he laughed lightly... "Getting me 'righteous' as you put it, for me to realize what I really feel.  I love you Francesca Marie Battles.  I have for a long time now.  But I never knew how you felt about me."

Jake laid his head down on the bed near her hip, his fingers still loosely laced with hers.  "I need you to wake up, Firecracker.  You can't leave me alone here."

"Jake."

****


	26. Underneath Your Clothes

Jake looked up to see Alex standing next to him. "Frank's outside, he needs to talk to you. I'll stay with Frankie until you get back." She smiled and hugged him tight. Alex had suspected for some time now that he was in love with Frankie and just wouldn't admit it to himself.

Outside Frank watched Frankie through the window. "Jake... I see she's got the breathing tube out. That's a good sign."

"What did you need Frank?"

"I'm giving you a paid furlough. Take as long as you need or want." At Jake's incredulous expression, Frank held up a hand. "You need the rest and the time to stay here with Frankie. But Jake, promise me you won't throw it all away on the hopes that she'll wake up. Chances are that if she hasn't come up by now, she might not ever come up."

"She will Frank. I know it. She's just tired and needs her rest. It's good that Alex is back. Maybe the workload won't be that bad while I'm gone."

"Take care of yourself too Jake. If Frankie wakes up-"

"WHEN"

"WHEN Frankie wakes up, she's not going to be thrilled to see you wasted away."

Jake nodded and went back in to sit with Frankie. Alex came out and sighed. "She doesn't look good Frank."

"No, she doesn't. But she looks a helluva lot better than she did a week ago."

************

Frank pulled his Blazer into the driveway and parked along side Shay's Jaguar.  It had been difficult seeing Frankie lying in that hospital bed, looking so small and vulnerable.  He was comforted by the fact that Jake was there by her side to look after her.  For Jake's sake, as well as everyone else's, he prayed that she would wake soon.

The early evening shadows were enveloping the house as he stepped through the front door into the foyer.  The lights were off and he squinted into the dimness of the hallway.  "Shay?" he called, but received no answer.  What was that smell?  Flowers...roses.  He stepped forward and felt something soft and slightly slippery under his shoe.  "Rose petals," he whispered.  He followed the trail of the delicate petals down the hall, up the stairs and saw the trail lead to his and Shay's bedroom.  

He opened the door slowly and found the room lit dimly by white candles that lined the room.  More Rose petals littered the floor and were spread over the turned down bed.  "Shay?"

Shay was sitting on the widow seat at the far end of the room awaiting his arrival.  She stood and moved toward him slowly.  She wore a long silk black negligee with a flowing black lace robe.  In her hand he saw that she was holding the stereo remote.

Shay smiled silkily as she neared him and lifted her hand slightly as she pushed the play button on the remote before placing it on the dresser nearest her.  The soft acoustical sound of Shakira's "Underneath Your Clothes" sounded through the speakers.  

She moved to his side and lightly touched the back of his right hand that rested against his thigh as he stood still, afraid to move lest he frighten away the beautiful apparition before him.  He watched as she trailed her fingers up his arm and turned his head to follow her as she circled behind him, her fingers never leaving his body as they traveled the width of his shoulders, down his left arm to twine her fingers with his.

_You're a song_

_Written by the hands of God_

_Don't get me wrong_

_Cause this might sound to you a bit odd_

Shay leaned against the strength of his body, her lips just a mere breath from his ear and she whispered, "That night...when you came for me...all I could think of was how much I love you."

"Shay," he groaned as her fingers made their way across his chest to the top button of his shirt.

"Shhh...let me finish," she admonished softly as she unbuttoned his shirt and peeled it back off his chest.  As she pressed soft kisses over his chest, he encircled her with his arms, pulling her closer against him as he slowly danced with her.

_But you own the place_

_Where all my thoughts go hiding_

_And right under your clothes_

_Is where I find them_

"I've found my heaven, Frank Dovovan, and it's within you.  I wouldn't last a minute on this earth without you," she confessed as she pushed his shirt past his shoulders and let it fall to the floor.

_Underneath your clothes_

_There's an endless story_

_There's the man I chose_

_There's my territory_

_And all the things I deserve_

_For being such a good girl, honey_

He softly removed the lace covering from her shoulders to let it fall to the floor at her feet.  Shay smiled up at him as her fingers slid into the waistband of his slacks before releasing the catch of his belt buckle.  He smiled sexily as she gently unbuttoned his slacks and pulled the zipper downward.

_Because of you_

_I forgot the smart ways to lie_

_Because of you_

_I'm running out of reasons to cry_

_When the friends are gone_

_When the party's over_

_We will still belong to each other_

Their movements stopped as their desire grew.  His hands traveled down her sides to her hips before cupping her bottom lovingly.  He stopped Shay's removal of his slacks long enough to toe off his shoes and socks.

_Underneath your clothes_

_There's an endless story_

_There's the man I chose_

_There's my territory_

_And all the things I deserve_

_For being such a good girl, honey_

Frank stood naked before his wife, her eyes roamed over his body, her love and desire visible in her sky-blue eyes.  He cupped her face with his hands and bent down to brush his lips to hers gently.  "You've given me love, happiness and the most beautiful children in the world.  No man could ask for more," he whispered, pulling her close.

_I love you more than all that's on the planet_

_Movin', talkin', walkin', breathin'_

_You know it's true_

_Oh, baby, it's so funny_

_You almost don't believe it_

_As every voice is hanging from the silence_

_Lamps are hanging from the ceiling_

_Like a lady to her good manners_

_I'm tied up to this feeling_

His fingers slid under the thin straps of her negligee and eased them off her shoulders.  He watched with pleasure as the thin, silky garment slid downward to pool at her feet.

_Underneath your clothes_

_There's an endless story_

_There's the man I chose_

_There's my territory_

_And all the things I deserve_

_For being such a good girl, honey_

He bent and picked her up, sliding his arm under her knees and around her shoulders and carried her to the bed and laid her gently down amongst the soft rose petals.  She smiled invitingly as she pulled him slowly downward to lie fully against her.  She whispered huskily against his cheek, "now it's time for this 'good girl' to show you all the ways she deserves to love you."  

Frank shifted slightly to look down upon her face.  "I don't deserve you, _mon_ _cadeau_...but I'll never let you go," he promised as his lips descended to hers in a fiery kiss that would heat the coldest of hearts.

************

**This chapter is dedicated to "Shakira" Cara, my Fehr Sistah at the FLMB.  ~g~  Lurve you girlie!! --Shel


	27. You Had me at Hello

"Hey, babe," Shay said softly as she entered Frankie's hospital room, finding Jake sitting beside the bed, reading the newspaper to Frankie.  She smiled when she noticed the Fichus tree in the corner of the room that Frank had sent over.  He wanted her to wake up to something alive; not the sterile white of the hospital room.

Jake managed a small smile.  

"How's she doing?" Shay asked, moving closer.

Jake's eyes clouded with tears, but he fought them back.  "The same...Shay...she has to wake up," he choked.  He tossed the newspaper aside, stood and threw his arms around her in a fierce hug.

Shay held him and stroked his back softly as he clung to her, silent in his misery.  "Jake...take a break.  Go get something to eat...sleep for a few minutes...anything.  I'll stay with her."

Although he didn't want to leave, he could see that Shay would not take no for an answer.  He managed a nod before he walked quietly from the room.

Sitting in the chair Jake left unoccupied, Shay looked sorrowfully at the sleeping woman.  How miserable Jake was without her and how guilty Shay felt that Francesca was in this state.  "Why did you do it, Frankie?  I'm sure it was all for your love for Frank, because you sure don't give a damn about me."   Shay paused, almost as if she was waiting for Frankie to spit out some scathing comeback, but all she received was silence.

"So, Battles...how long do you plan on laying here raking up the sympathy?"  Shay laughed softly.  "Sorry...I don't mean that...I figure, if I piss you off enough, you'll wake up just to deck me."

Still, there was no response.

"Well...I could spew all kinds of crap at you...but here's the bottom line.  Ya know, there's this guy here...he's been sitting by your side, day and night since you've been here.  I've never seen such devotion...well, except for Frank...but let's not go there," she said with a grin.  "And let me tell ya, woman...if you don't get your happy ass up and forgive Jake and love him the way he deserves to be loved...I'll find a way to crawl inside that head of yours and beat you senseless within your dreams!" 

And Francesca Battles remained quiet...the only sound in the room was the breathing of the two women and the machines that occasionally beeped their presence.

--

Two days later found Jake walking in after a short return to the nest to check in and let everyone know what was going on. The nurses must have washed her hair while he was gone, it smelled of vanilla and orange and it was brushed out. It still looked like a shaggy lion's mane. She looked so peaceful, her chest rising and falling softly of its own power as she breathed. The oxygen line that ran right under her nose was gone too. Apparently the doctor felt she didn't need it any longer.

"Hello Francesca" he whispered in her ear softly. Kissing her forehead, he pulled the chair up close and sat down. "I remember... the first time I saw you. I called Frank and told him about this biscuit I'd seen. You. He asked me what a biscuit was in definition of a woman. I told him that you were beautiful enough to give even him heart palpitations. And you were. Even as shy as you were then... and when I saw you fresh out of the shower a day or two later. Jesus Firecracker... I wanted you then."

Jake stood up and walked over to the window. "He gave me a paid furlough. To watch over you until you woke up." He laughed and ran his hands through his hair. "Actually, he said 'if'. But I know you. You're damned stubborn and won't give up without a fight. Don't make a liar out of me Francesca. Don't give up!"

He turned around and came back over to the bed and sat down on the edge. Jake took her hand in his and turned it over to kiss the inside of her wrist sensually. "I need you Frankie... I need you to come back. Just open those beautiful eyes of yours and look at me." He paused, watching her face for a moment. "I've tried everything I can to get through to you."

He leaned forward and brushed her bangs from her forehead. "Francesca..." whispered. "Francesca baby, please open those beautiful eyes of yours." His voice cracked in the whisper to her. The reality was setting in that she might never wake up. He brushed a soft kiss across her lips. "I love you."

He sat back, wiping the tears from his eyes. "There, are you happy? I said it finally Firecracker. I love you. Always have; always will. I just can't believe I'm saying it to you when you're comatose and can't slap me... or whatever." He shifted and laid his head down across her stomach, the fingers of his hand twining with hers again. "Please wake up baby..." he whispered as he closed his eyes.

Jake lay there for some minutes, silent tears running down his cheeks into the blanket over her stomach. His thumb brushed rhythmically over the back of her hand as he lay there. For a moment he could have sworn he felt her breathing change, or some other sound. Was.... he feeling someone touching his hair?

Frankie's fingers combed gently through his hair as he lay on her stomach. He had said he loved her... tears streamed down her cheeks softly as she looked down at him. As he lifted his head, his deep brown eyes wide in shock, she smiled softly. Her fingertips traced down his cheek, then pulled back. She rubbed her thumb and forefinger together, feeling the wetness of his tears.

Feeling embarrassed, Jake wiped his cheeks dry of the tears.  "You... you're awake...  Francesca, you're awake!!  You.."  he stopped short of throwing himself at her and hugging her tight.  "How long have you been awake?" he asked skeptically.

Frankie smiled softly and traced his forehead tenderly.

"Say something damn you...  Did you hear everything I said?"  Jake's voice was strained with concern.  Why wasn't she saying anything?

Her thumb brushed his full lower lip lightly.  He loved her.

"Francesca... baby?"

"You had me from hello." she whispered.

***********


	28. A Little Announcement

Two weeks later Frankie and Jake walked into the nest.  Cody was the first to see them and grinned a wide cheesy grin.

"Heeeeeeeey Frankie!!"

"Hey Cody" she smiled a bit tiredly.  Her physical therapy had been killing her since she got out.  But, in addition to the 12 inch long scar running from her collar bones down to right under her ribcage, she was upright and alive.  As long as she was alive, she didn't care how much therapy hurt or how tired she got from it.

"I'm going to stop going on vacation." Alex grinned and stepped from behind her desk and gingerly hugged the taller woman.

"Nah.  I got a few good things out of this mess Alex." she winked with a smile.

"Yeah?  Like what?"

"Like... a clearer understanding.  And redemption."

"Redemption?"  Alex's forehead wrinkled in confusion.

"Yeah.  Redemption.  I paid a debt owed." Frankie said with a smile as Frank and Shay came down from his office.

"FRANKIE!" Frank shouted.  "I thought I heard your voice.  How are you feeling?"

"Like I was shot, out cold for three weeks and now being twisted and pushed and pulled in each direction.  Other than that I'm fine.  Hey Shay."

"Well, I'll be go to hell.  You actually called me by name!"

"Close your mouth, it's rather unladylike." Frankie grinned and eased down into a chair.  Jake was right beside her, watching to make sure she didn't hurt herself more.

Just as she did, the doors to the warehouse burst open and in ran LJ, his grandfather and little sister right behind him.  Frankie chuckled as Jake scooped up LJ.  Thomas handed Ariel off to her mother and smiled.  "Hello again Miss Battles.  How are you feeling?"

"Hello Mr. Renquist."  She smiled and looked around.  Deciding against the 'usual reply' she gave everyone else, Frankie just said, "I'm feeling better every day."

"That's good.  I can't thank you enough-"

"You've thanked me enough." She held up a hand in defense.  "Please... I did what had to be done."

Jake frowned a bit, but then shrugged it off as he slipped his fingers into Frankie's.  She replied by smiling up at him and tugging him down so she could whisper in his ear.  He blinked, and then looked up at everyone.

"We... uh... have two announcements.  The first one...Shay... Frankie said she wanted to talk to you alone."

"And the second?" Alex asked.

"Can wait until after I talk to Shay alone." Frankie grinned.  Shay was looking a bit nervous but quelled it down.  "Five minutes please, guys?"

"I'm not in a position to argue."

"I agree Thomas.  All right Cody and Alex.  Help me wrangle LJ and Ariel into the break room?"

"Ariel is fine, she can stay." Frankie said as Frank started to take the little girl.

Frank blinked, then nodded.  Shay turned around, little Ariel in hand. "Well Battles?  What is it you wanted to talk to me about?"

"While I was under...I remember this mouthy broad coming to me." she smirked as she leaned back in the chair.  "This woman kept talking; wouldn't shut up.  Little Harpy kept asking me questions.  The one I remember the most is 'Why'?"  Frankie carefully stood up and walked over to Shay.

Ariel looked up at the lady with big brown eyes, and then held out her arms. Frankie chuckled and picked her up, wincing softly at the weight.  "You shouldn't be carrying her.  You'll pull your stitches open." Shay insisted and reached for her daughter.

"Oh pipe down Shay."  Frankie said and shifted the little girl's weight so she sat on Frankie's hip.  "THIS is the reason I did it Shay.  Not for you, not for Frank.  But for Ariel and LJ."  She smiled and blew raspberries at the baby while turning to walk into the break room to join the others.

Shay stared after her for a moment before following Frankie, shaking her head in bewilderment.  Francesca Battles was a soft touch under that tough exterior, just as Frank has said.

"All done?"

"Yup Frank.  All done."  Frankie winked and looked at Jake.  "Do you want to tell them, or shall I?"

Shay joined Frank and her father as LJ wriggled down out of Daddy's lap and ran over to Uncle Jake.  Alex laughed, as did Cody.  Shay looked between the two, puzzled.  Frank watched Frankie's face for a moment, and then looked at Jake. Frankie and Jake looked at one another so long without a word. Finally Jake put LJ down and walked over to Frankie, sliding his arm around her waist.  He took her left hand in his and pulled it up to his lips.  Turning her wrist slightly, he ever so lightly licked the warm inside of her wrist before pressing a kiss to it.  As he did, the slight glitter on Frankie's left hand caused Shay and Frank both to shout at the same time.  "OH MY GOD!..."

--

``finis

We truly hope you have enjoyed this story as much as Gypsy and I have enjoyed writing it.  This may not be the end of the Frank/Shay Jake/Frankie pairings...unless, of course, you scream ...ENOUGH!!  LOL....thanks for the reviews here at ffnet, the lists we posted this on and at the Fehr Ladies Message Board.


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